James Brown is going out the same way he came in—with a flourish.

Funeral plans for the Godfather of Soul, who died on Christmas Day of congestive heart failure at age 73, have been finalized. At the same time, as tributes from fans and fellow musicians around the world continue to pour in, Spike Lee has announced he'll direct a biopic based on Brown's life. (For the highlights, see our James Brown photo retrospective.)

In honor of his unforgettable debut at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, which culminated in his top-selling 1962 album, Live at the Apollo, Vol. 1, and marked his breakthrough on the pop charts, Brown's body will lie in state at the venue on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. to give fans a chance to pay their last respects.

The Reverend Al Sharpton, a close friend of the showman for over three decades, confirmed the funeral arrangements on Tuesday after consulting with Brown's children in Georgia.

"It would almost be unthinkable for a man who lived such a sensational life to go away quietly," Sharpton told the Associated Press. "His greatest thrill was always the lines around the Apollo Theater. I felt that James Brown, in all the years we talked, would have wanted one last opportunity to let the people say goodbye to him and he to the people."

Following the public viewing, a private funeral service is set for Friday in Brown's hometown of Augusta, Georgia. Sharpton will then preside over a public memorial to be held on Saturday in Augusta at the 8,500-seat James Brown Arena starting at 1 p.m. The services are expected to draw A-list entertainers and thousands of fans.

Among the musicians who've felt the indelible influence of Brown are Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger (who called Brown a "whirlwind of energy and precision"), rock icon Little Richard (an "innovator...an emancipator") and Michael Jackson, who would never have dreamed up the Moonwalk if it weren't for Mr. Dynamite.

Funk bass superstar Bootsy Collins, who held down the rhythm in Brown's backing band the JBs in the early '70s, called Brown the "God of rhythm and music."

"Me along with countless other musicians were his Sons. No one else will ever come close. For he is declared this day by all Funkateer's across the globe: 'The Funkiest Mutha in the Universe,' " the colorful Collins, who also played with George Clinton's Funkadelic, wrote on his Website.

Usher, who learned some stage moves first-hand from Brown, called his mentor  "one of America's greatest cultural icons...He was not only the Godfather of Soul, he was the Godfather to the entire music  industry."

Indeed, aside from rockers and R&B'ers, rappers hailed Brown for laying the funky beats and lyrical groundwork for what eventually evolved into rap.

"I am hurt. That's my godfather, my soul inspiration, the hardest-working man in show business of all time," said Snoop Dogg in a statement. "He'll be missed, but his music and his legacy will live on through me, in every way you can imagine."

Diddy told MTV that James Brown was the reason he "fell in love with music," while Ice Cube saluted Brown as "not only the Godfather of Soul, but the godfather of funk and rap. Music will never be the same."

Nas, meanwhile, recalled presenting an award to Brown earlier this year. 

"He smiled while I told him how I used his music with mine and how much he's done for us and how I love him," the rap star told MTV. "I'm lucky to have had that moment, I shook his hand.  He was pure greatness."

Hollywood is also getting in on the tribute act.

Spike Lee has come aboard to helm a feature film about Brown that will be produced by Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Paramount, the studio confirmed Wednesday.

Lee will rework a script that had been variously worked on by Jezz and John Henry Butterworth and Steven Baigelman. Brown lent his support to the project before his death, selling the film rights to his life story and music, in addition to meeting with the writers, who also interviewed several of his longtime sidemen.

No word yet who'll don the cape to play the Hardest Working Man in Show Business (Eddie Murphy, anyone?), but producers reportedly hope to begin shooting in either late 2007 or early 2008.

Brown was no stranger to the big screen, having played a crazed preacher in 1980's The Blues Brothers and The Blues Brothers 2000. He also wrote and performed the Grammy-winning "Living in America" for 1985's Rocky IV.

"Fortunate were those of us who were able to engage his talents and witness his latest shows," said Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd, "the greatest onstage revue of music in the history of our planet."

The late, great Sex Machine kept working right up until the end. Even after he was hospitalized last weekend, he expressed hope to perform as scheduled on New Year's Eve at Manhattan's B.B. King's Blues Club.

Club promoters have since transformed a promotional poster in front of the Times Square venue into a makeshift memorial, with "In Memory Of" splashed across the top. Fans have scrawled messages on the poster, including "The Papa's got a brand-new bag" and "The Day the Funk Stood Still," and flowers have piled up next to the theater.

(B.B. King's announced today that Chaka Khan will take over the New Year's Eve slot along with some unnamed special guests; all original tickets sold for Brown's show will be honored at the door.)

An impromptu shrine has also gone up around a statue of Brown in Augusta. Fans draped a red scarf and U.S. flag over the monument in a nod to the singer's traditional concert finale, when his band members would wrap him in a cape of the American flag.

But the battle over Brown's estate is just beginning. His 37-year-old partner and longtime backup singer, Tomi Rae Hynie, who's also the mother of Brown's five-year-old son, is seeking legal status as his widow. 

Brown's attorney, Buddy Dallas, said Hynie was married to a Texas man when she tied the knot with Brown in 2000, thus voiding their union. While she subsequently got an annulment, Dallas says she and Brown never swapped vows again to make it official.

Dallas has barred Hynie from entering the house she shared with Brown in Beech Island, South Carolina, following his death. Per published reports, Hynie is currently holed up in an Augusta hotel without clothes and money. She has claimed that Dallas is attempting to freeze her out of a stake in Brown's estate and insists she has documented proof that a judge has ruled that she and Brown were indeed married.

For the time being, Dallas said that Brown's estate has been left in a trust for his children.

For more on Brown's legacy, see our photo retrospective.