The buzzy Zendaya biopic of the OG baddie of rock n' roll, Ronnie Spector just found its director. Deadline has announced that production company A24 has brought Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins on board — and this film is starting to sound really, really good.
The 25-year-old actress had already been selected her to play the Ronnettes frontwoman in the biopic. The last major update came in 2022, when Zendaya paid tribute to Ronnie Spector after she passed away from cancer at the age of 78, on Instagram. Sharing to her 123 million (!) Instagram followers, Zendaya posted an iconic black and white image of Ronnie taken in 1977 – which features her sitting in a director's seat bearing her name – together with a second image, a Polaroid of the two women together taken (according to a marker pen annotation) in 2018.
Of course, she pulled it off.
The post was captioned with a moving essay celebrating the impact that the pair's relationship had on the Euphoria actor, deeming it “one of the greatest honors [sic] of my life”.
The full caption celebrates Ronnie's trademark red-lipped, big-haired aesthetic, together with her vivacious personality.
“This news just breaks my heart. To speak about her as if she’s not with us feels strange as she is so incredibly full of life. There’s not a time I saw her without her iconic red lips and full teased hair, a true rockstar through and through".
It continued: “Ronnie, being able to know you has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Thank you for sharing your life with me, I could listen to your stories for hours and hours. Thank you for your unmeasured talent, your unwavering love for performing, your strength, resilience and your grace. There is absolutely nothing that could dim the light you cast. I admire you so much and am so grateful for the bond we share.”
The fandom was clearly mutual during Ronnie's lifetime: back in September 2020, Deadline reported that Ronnie “chose Zendaya as the actress she wished to portray her in her early years” – in much the same way as Aretha Franklin personally backed Jennifer Hudson to play her in 2021 film, Respect.
Zendaya – who has also starred in Challengers, The Greatest Showman and Spider-Man: No Way Home, together with, of course, having a singing career of her own – is clearly a stellar choice to take on the weighty task of playing Ronnie.
What's more, Zendaya not only bears a passing resemblance to the late icon, but also has a similar mixed-race heritage: both have one African-American parent (Zendaya's father, Ronnie's mother – the latter was also of Cherokee descent), while Ronnie's father was Irish-American and Zendaya's mother Scottish-German.
Be My Baby plot
The film will chronicle the formative years of Ronnie's career: the signing of the Ronettes by Philles Records (the company of Phil Spector, the American record producer turned murder convict whom Ronnie later married and divorced); Phil & Ronnie's emotionally-abusive marriage; and the couple's bitter, prolonged divorce battle in court, which became tied in with a right feud over Ronnie's original music.
As Deadline reports, “[Zendaya] 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.”
It will be based on Ronnie's 1990 memoir of the same title, which was subtitled How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, Or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette. Ronnie co-authored the autobiographical book with writer Vince Waldron.
Be My Baby cast
So far, Zendaya is the only confirmed cast member, so stay tuned!
Be My Baby production team
Jenkins, who recently joined as director, has a number of acclaimed projects already under his belt. As a director, he was behind Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, and, most recently, Mufasa: The Lion King, amongst others. As a producer, his credits include Sorry, Baby and Aftersun. He's been nominated for three Oscars and taken home one.
Dave Kajganich has also joined the team as screenwriter. His previous writing credits include Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All and Suspiria.
Zendaya, Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, Mark Itkin andTom Shelly produce. Spector herself had served as a producer on the project before her death.
Be My Baby release date
Sadly, it will probably be a little while as the project is still in pre-production! But, needless to say, we can't wait.
