LOS ANGELES — Start singing “Ain’t That Good News”: A Sam Cooke biopic has taken a significant step toward becoming a reality.

The screenwriters behind the all-Beatles musical “Across the Universe” have finished their adaptation of Peter Guralnick’s definitive biography of Sam Cooke for ABKCO, which owns Cooke’s publishing and the bulk of his master recordings. ABKCO CEO Jody Klein is now looking for a director.