Oscar winner Barry Jenkins Will direct A24’s “Be My Baby”, a biographical drama about Ronnie Spector.
Zedayawhich has been linked to the project since 2020, will depict the music icon of the 60s. Before The singer died in 2022Spector was an executive producer on the film and hand -picked Zendaya to play her on the screen.
“Be My Baby” will be adapted from the 1990 memo “Be My Baby: How I Survive Mascara, Miniskirts and Madness, or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette” Wrote Spector with Vince Waldron. But the film is expected to focus on the singer’s life with the troubled producer Phil Spector, according to Deadline, who first reported the news of Jenkin’s commitment. Dave Kajganich (“Bones and All”, “Suspiria”) has been dropped to write the original script.
Spector, born Veronica Bennett, rose to fame in the 1960s as leader of the girl group The Ronettes, known for hits like “Be My Baby”, “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain.” As the subtitle in her memoir suggests, she often rocked a hive hairstyle, cat -eyed mascara and tightly fitting clothes.
She married music producer Phil Spector in 1968 (and took her name professionally) but detailed in his autobiography that he mainly held her as a virtual prisoner in their home during their tumultuous marriage. During that time, she recalled down to alcoholism, which affected her professional life. Phil Spector was sentenced in 2009 to 19 years in prison for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. The died at the age of 81 2021. Ronnie Spector, introduced in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, died after “a brief struggle with cancer” at the age of 78.
A24, Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Mark Itkin, Tom Shelly and Zendaya will produce “Be My Baby” with Jonathan Greenfield which acts as executive producer. Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak, Jenkin’s partners in pastel, will also join as producers.
The timing of “Be My Baby” is not clear because Jenkins recently signed to direct “The Natural Order”, a sci-fi thriller with Glen Powell. Zendaya has Christopher Nolan’s epic “The Odyssey”, Universal’s “Shrek 5” and Marvel’s “Spider Man 4” on the horizon.
“Be My Baby” marks another collaboration for Jenkins and A24 after “Moonlight” and this year’s Sundance Darling “Sorry, Baby” (which Jenkins served as a producer). The film also reunites Zendaya with A24, a producer on “Euphoria” and the upcoming romantic comedy “The Drama” with Robert Pattinson.
