Barry Jenkins to Direct Zendaya in Ronnie Spector Biopic ‘Be My Baby’ for A24
Variety reports that Oscar winner Barry Jenkins will direct A24’s “Be My Baby,” a biographical drama about Ronnie Spector.
Zendaya, who will portray the ’60s music icon, has been attached to the project since 2020. Dave Kajganich has been tapped to write the original screenplay.
“Be My Baby” marks another collaboration for Jenkins and A24 after “Moonlight” and Sundance favorite “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.
Spector chose Zendaya as the actress she wished to portray her in her early years. She grew up in Spanish Harlem and started the girl group The Ronettes with her older sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. They were signed by famously volatile record producer Phil Spector to his Philles Record label and there they had their breakthrough hit Be My Baby. She married Spector and as she writes in the book, it was clear she had made a big mistake when she woke up one morning to the sound of bars being installed on the windows of their mansion. She smartly fought for the rights to her music in the subsequent divorce, and she was eventually inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had a second wind when reprised her most famous hit in singing a duet with Eddie Money on Take Me Home Tonight.
A24 will produce along with Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Mark Itkin, Tom Shelly, and Zendaya. 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.