Zendaya and Barry Jenkins unite for a Ronnie Spector biopic 

Zendaya is teaming up with Moonlight director Barry Jenkins for Be My Baby, a music-biopic about the life of Ronnie Spector, the lead singer of the '60s girl group The Ronnettes. The film has long been in development and the singer had personally selected the actress to play her role.

It will be adapted from Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, Or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette, Spector's biographical novel, which she co-wrote with Vince Waldron.

Suspiria scribe David Kajganich has been roped in to write the adaptation. His script will reportedly follow the singer's tumultuous relationship with her husband and music producer Phil Spector.

A24 will produce his project along with Zendaya, Adam Siegel, Marc Platt, Tom Shelly, and Mark Itkin. Jenkins will also co-produce with Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak from Pastel, who won an Oscar for Moonlight. Jonathan Greenfield will serve as the executive producer.

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A24 reunites Zendaya and Barry Jenkins in a much-awaited biopic project

Be My Baby is officially on the roster for Zendaya, who will also co-star with Mickey 17 star Robert Pattinson in Kristoffer Borgli's The Drama for A24. The music-biopic marks her third collaboration with the Oscar-winning indie studio, besides Euphoria and the Borgli film.

The other projects on her radar include DreamWorks Animation's Shrek 5 and Christopher Nolan's highly-anticipated epic The Odyssey, where she will co-star with Spider-Man's Tom Holland.

Barry Jenkins is eyeing this project on the heels of the commercial success of Mufasa: The Lion King, the live-action Disney remake, which is one of the highest-grossing films of 2024. He is widely known for Moonlight, a coming-of-age film that earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Previously, Jenkins has adapted James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk for a romance film and Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-prize-winning novel, The Underground Railroad. Jenkins recently co-produced Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby, with A24, which earned rave reviews upon its Sundance Film Festival premiere. So, Be My Baby marks his third collaboration with the famed studio.

Screenwriter David Kajganich is most popular for his work with the Challengers director Luca Guadagnino. Kajganich has previously written the scripts for Guadagnino and Ralph Fiennes' A Bigger Splash, Timothee Chalamet's Bones and All, and Dakota Johnson's Suspiria.

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There hasn't been any official announcement about the production schedule or release window for Be My Baby. It will have to work around Zendaya and Jenkins' other working commitments. Jenkins was recently in talks to direct The Natural Order, a sci-fi thriller starring Twisters' Glen Powell whereas Zendaya will be working on the upcoming season of Euphoria, besides the Nolan film.