Following his successful Beatles documentary, Ron Howard is sticking with music. The Oscar-winner is directing a documentary about Luciano Pavarotti, the Italian tenor who rose to superstar status. Howard's Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures announced the untitled project Thursday.

Pavarotti transcended opera to become a leading tenor. Howard says Pavarotti's life is full of great drama and contradictions. The tenor became a best-selling classical artist, with more than 100 million records sold, and he had the first classical album to reach No. 1 on the pop charts. He died from pancreatic cancer in 2007 at age 71.