Aaron Eckhart has signed on to play Dennis Wilson, drummer and songwriter for The Beach Boys, in a new biopic entitled The Drummer, for director Randall Miller (Bottle Shock).

Eckhart is busy training for the role, learning to play the drums and piano. He will also be singing on screen for the role. The Drummer will chart the last six years of Dennis Wilson’s life, before he drowned in 1983 in Marina Del Rey. This was shortly after he finished his solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, an album that was re-released in 2008 to rave reviews.

Eckhart is currently shooting the CIA thriller The Expatriate, and has also recently signed on to play the lead in I, Frankenstein, a comic book adaptation being directed by Stuart Beattie.

(via Deadline)