David Permut is developing a biopic about auto exec John Z. DeLorean, with Steve Lee Jones producing through Bee Holder Prods., according to Variety.

Jones has secured life rights from the late DeLorean's longtime attorney, Mayer Morganroth.

The film will chronicle DeLorean's rise and fall, starting with his work as a young exec VP at General Motors, where he developed the Pontiac GTO and Firebird, and the creation of his own company and the DeLorean DMC-12 car -- later featured in the Back to The Future films. DeLorean's downfall came when was arrested in 1982 on charges of drug trafficking to help his faltering auto company. He was freed two years later after a court ruled he was a victim of government entrapment.

No production date has been set.