EXCLUSIVE: A24 is adding to its partnership with megastar Zendaya and her film on the life of singer Ronnie Spector, with Barry Jenkins coming on board to direct with Dave Kajganich tapped to write an original screenplay. Zendaya will play the legendary songstress and according to sources, the star and Jenkins, who’d been looking to work together for some time, agreed on a version of Spector’s story that could 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.
We are hearing the deals for Spector’s life rights and for Be My Baby, the memoir she wrote with Vince Waldron, remain in tact. The film is in development with Luca Guadagnino writer Kajganich who is hard at work on the expressive interpretation of Spector’s life which Zendaya and Jenkins are after.
The hot rights sale was engineered by Zendaya, Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, who will all produce along with Mark Itkin and Tom Shelly. Jonathan Greenfield will executive produce. Before her passing, Spector was an executive producer on the film and hand-selected Zendaya to play her. Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak, Jenkin’s partners at Pastel, will also be joining as producers.
The hot rights sale was engineered by Zendaya, Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, who will all produce along with Mark Itkin and Tom Shelly. Jonathan Greenfield will executive produce. Before her passing, Spector was an executive producer on the film and hand-selected Zendaya to play her. Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak, Jenkin’s partners at Pastel, will also be joining as producers.
He also recently teamed with busy A-lister Glen Powell on the adult sci-fi pic The Natural Order for Universal. The pic is based on the upcoming novel by Matt Aldrich and has Powell starring and Jenkins directing. Jenkins is repped by CAA, manager Jewerl Keats Ross and lawyer Jamie Feldman.
Kajganich’s screenwriting credits include three films for Luca Guadagnino, A Bigger Splash, Suspiria and Bones and All, as well as creating and running the first season of AMC’s The Terror. He is repped by Anonymous Content, UTA and Jackoway, Austen, Tyerman and Wertheimer.
By Deadline
