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Acclaimed filmmaker Barry Jenkins didn't take long to find his next project after Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King. Jenkins has come on board to direct A24's upcoming biopic about the life of singer Ronnie Spector.

According to Deadline, A24 has been developing the project since 2022. Before her passing, Spector was set to be an executive producer on the biopic and hand-selected Zendaya to play her. Zendaya, who is coming off a strong 2024 thanks to Challengers and Dune: Part Two, has reportedly been wanting to work with Jenkins for some time now and vice versa. Dave Kajganich has been tapped to write an original screenplay that will "immerse audiences in what the singer’s life with the troubled producer Phil Spector felt like rather than a traditional cradle-to-the-grave biopic."

Who Is Ronnie Spector?

A24 has acquired Spector's life rights as well as rights to her 1990 memoir Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara,...

We’ve got some exciting news out of Hollywood today, courtesy of Deadline. Lizzo, the four-time Grammy winner, is set to take on a major role in a new movie about the legendary Sister Rosetta Tharpe. This isn’t just any project—it’s a biopic called ‘Rosetta,’ and it’s being developed by Amazon MGM Studios. I can already feel the energy this pairing is going to bring to the screen.

Tharpe, often called the ‘Godmother of Rock and Roll,’ was a gospel singer who broke barriers in the 1930s and ’40s. She mixed her faith-filled music with a guitar style that shaped rock as we know it, influencing icons like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. The film plans to dive into a key chapter of her life, full of bold creativity and personal struggles. Picture this—she’s pushing musical limits, hiding a forbidden romance with another woman,...

Four-time Grammy Award winner Lizzo is officially going Hollywood as one of the world's most popular artists is set to star as a legendary musician in new music biopic for Amazon MGM Studios.

Per Variety, Lizzo is set to star as legendary musician Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the film, Rosetta, from producers Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, and Kevin Beisler. In addition to starring in the film, Lizzo will also serve as a producer. Natalie Chaidez and Kwynn Perry (Tigerbelles) serve as writers for the movie, however, no director is attached to the project yet. Tharpe rose to prominence as a gospel singer in the 1930s and would become a major influence for many rock & roll artists including Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.

According to an official description for the film, Rosetta "captures a pivotal period in her life — one of groundbreaking innovation, defiant passion, and secret love. As she...

Lizzo is set to play rock & roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a new film in development by Amazon MGM Studios, per Deadline.

A brilliant guitarist and singer, Tharpe was a major influence to scores of rockers, including Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan. “A queer black woman from Arkansas who shredded on electric guitar, belted praises both to God and secular pleasures, and broke the color line touring with white singers, she was gospel’s first superstar, and she most assuredly rocked,” wrote Rolling Stone...

It’s about damn time! Someone is finally making a movie about Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel singer who transcended the art form to become one of Rock’ n’ Roll and R&b’s most influential pioneers. The biographical project hails from Amazon MGM Studios, with four-time Grammy award winner Lizzo (Hustlers) shredding the electric guitar to play Rosetta.

In addition to her starring role, Lizzo is producing the film with Kevin Beisler, Significant Productions’ Nina Yang Bongiovi, and Forest Whitaker. Natalie Chaidez and Kwynn Perry are writing the script, focusing on the life and times of Rosetta Tharpe, the mother of Rock’ n’ Roll. Simply put, there would be no Rock ‘n’ Roll without Tharpe’s influence. She inspired icons like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and innumerable others to set fire to strings and give their souls to the musical art form.

Actual events inspire Lizzo’s Rosetta movie,...

One of the earliest influencers of Rock & Roll is getting a biopic based on her life and has a big name pop star set to portray her. Lizzo will play Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a musical biopic based on Tharpe’s life, an individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire.

The film, titled “Rosetta,” is currently in development for Amazon MGM Studios, and Lizzo is also producing the project alongside Kevin Beisler, as well as Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker for their banner Significant Productions. The film will be written by Natalie Chaidez and Kwynn Perry. No director is attached.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe began her career in the ’30s with her gospel recordings and gained popularity by the ’40s, one of the first to blend gospel sounds with the electric guitar. But she became a true trailblazer who inspired countless rock legends, including Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard,...

Lizzois set to make her big-screen starring debut. She's signed on to star in Rosetta, a new biopic of Sister Rosetta Tharp, the groundbreaking musician known as the Queen of Rock and Roll. Deadline reports that Lizzo will produce the film for Amazon MGM Studios, as well.

Lizzo, the Grammy-winning musician born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, will star in the film as Tharp, who was born in 1915 and became a sensation in the 1930s and 40s as a gospel singer. She was one of the first musicians to popularize the electric guitar, and was a key figure in the creation of what would become rock and roll. Rock legends like Little Richard, Johnny Cash, and Tina Turner cited her as an influence on their musicianship, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. However, she remains a somewhat obscure figure among the public: Rosetta will be...

Lizzo is attached to star in a biopic movie about Rosetta Tharpe.

Rosetta is currently in development at Amazon MGM Studios with a script from Natalie Chaidez (The Flight Attendant) and Kwynn Perry (Tigerbelles). A director is not yet attached.

Producers on the project include Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker for Significant Productions, alongside Lizzo and Kevin Beisler.

Tharpe was a gospel singer who gained prominence in the 1930s and ’40s and has been dubbed the “Godmother of rock and roll.”

The film centers on a key period in Tharpe’s life when she was receiving acclaim for her guitar sound and preparing for a major concert, marking the first-ever stadium show in music history, while also having to hide her love for another woman.

Lizzo is a four-time Grammy winner who appeared in the 2019 film Hustlers. She starred in the Emmy-winning Amazon series Watch Out for the Big...

Lizzo is taking on an iconic role.

The 36-year-old Truth Hurts superstar will play Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel singer who became a key figure in pioneering rock n’ roll (dubbed “the Godmother of rock and roll”), in Rosetta, an upcoming biopic from Amazon MGM Studios.

The project is currently in development.

Natalie Chaidez and Kwynn Perry are writing the screenplay, via Deadline.

Keep reading to find out more…

Here’s a synopsis: “Inspired by true events, the film will capture a pivotal period in Tharpe’s life—one of groundbreaking innovation, defiant passion, and secret love. As she shatters musical boundaries with her signature guitar sound, she must navigate societal constraints, conceal her love for another woman, and ultimately transform a wedding into one of the most legendary concerts in history—the first stadium show.”

Lizzo made history in 2023 when she became the first Black woman to receive Record...

Exclusive: Four-time Grammy winner Lizzo will be taking up the guitar to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel singer who was one of the first to appeal to rock ‘n’ roll and R&b audiences, in Amazon MGM Studios’ Rosetta.

The project is in development with Lizzo, Kevin Beisler, Significant Productions’ Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker producing. Natalie Chaidez and Kwynn Perry are writing the screenplay.

Without Tharpe, there would be no rock n’ roll. Her influence on popular music spans decades and includes Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and countless others. Inspired by true events, the film will capture a pivotal period in Thrape’s life — one of groundbreaking innovation, defiant passion and secret love. As she shatters musical boundaries with her signature guitar sound, she must navigate societal constraints, conceal her love...

ABC is developing a drama series with both Eva Longoria and Forest Whitaker attached as executive producers.

Titled “Chicano,” the series is inspired by the novel of the same name Richard Vasquez. It tells the multi-generational story of the Sandovals, a Mexican-American family that immigrates to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American Dream. It follows the struggles and triumphs of the Sandovals from 1920 through present and explores the question of what it means to be American.

ABC has given the project a script plus additional development material order with a penalty attached. Natalie Chaidez will write and executive produce. Longoria and Ben Spector will executive produce via UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, while Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi will executive produce via Significant Productions. Doug Pray will also executive produce. 20th Century Fox Television, where Chaidez is under an overall deal, will produce.

“’Chicano’ is just the first of many projects that...