Zendaya will play iconic Ronettes co-founder Ronnie Spector in a biopic for director Barry Jenkins called “Be My Baby,” TheWrap has learned. A24 is behind the project, which has tapped “Bones and All” and “Suspiria” writer David Kajganich to write the original screenplay.
A24, Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Mark Itkin, Tom Shelly, and Zendaya will produce, with Jonathan Greenfield as executive producer. Before her passing, Spector was an executive producer on the film and hand-selected Zendaya to play her. Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak, Barry’s partners at Pastel, will also be joining as producers.
Spector co-founded The Ronettes in the late 1950s and the girl group went on to smashing success with songs like “Be My Baby” and “(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up.” She married music producer Phil Spector in 1968 and alleged a relationship racked with “psychological torment” in her 1990 memoir. They divorced in 1974.
Zendaya is currently filming the fourth season of “Euphoria” and stars in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming “The Odyssey.” Jenkins is coming off the release of his Disney film “Mufasa: The Lion King” and recently signed on to direct Glen Powell in the Universal sci-fi thriller “The Natural Order.”
“Be My Baby” reunites Jenkins with A24, the studio that released his Best Picture-winning “Moonlight.” This is Zendaya’s third collaboration with the studio after “Euphoria” and the upcoming film “The Drama” co-starring Robert Pattinson.
Jenkins is repped by CAA, manager Jewerl Keats Ross and lawyer Jamie Feldman.
Zendaya is represented by CAA, Monster Talent Management, and Granderson Des Rochers.
Kajganich is repped by Robyn Meisinger at Anonymous Content, Blair Kohan at UTA, and Alan Wertheimer at Jackoway, Austen, Tyerman, and Wertheimer.
