Poet, songwriter and children's author Shel Silverstein is to be the subject of a new Hollywood biopic.

Director McG is developing a film about the man behind Johnny Cash's classic A Boy Named Sue and Dr. Hook's Sylvia's Mother, based on Lisa Rogak's book A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein.

Silverstein suffered a heart attack and died in 1999.