Great news this morning from movies and music worlds.
Zendaya, the hottest actress in the word, will play rock and roll great Ronnie Spector in a biopic.
Barry Jenkins, of the Oscar winning “Moonlight,” will direct the film.
Ronnie chose Zendaya before her untimely death in 2022. Spector’s husband, Jonathan Greenfield, is executive producer.
Originally known as Ronnie Bennett, the powerhouse singer led the girl group trio, the Ronettes, produced by Phil Spector in the early 60s. With Spector, they rocketed to fame with perhaps the great single of the 60s — “Be My Baby.” (The Beatles and the Stones would agree, trust me.) An avalanche of hits followed including “Walking in the Rain,” “Baby I Love You,” and more.
In fact, Ronnie became very close to the Stones, taking Mick and Keith to Harlem for the first time.
In the adrenaline of the moment, she married Phil Spector. The rest was history and a lot of misery as Phil famously mistreated her and ripped her off. Ronnie getting away from Spector, earning her freedom and then attempting to get the millions she was owed is a central part of her story.
But there’s also music, lots of great music, costumes, and a raft of musicians from Cher to Tina Turner, Darlene Love and more who are all part of her life story. Ronnie was also a doll, a great person with a tremendous sense of humor. This could easily be Zendaya’s ticket to the Oscars.
No word yet on whether Zendaya will sing or they’ll use Ronnie’s spectacular voice. Getting the movie together is certainly a triumph for Jody Klein of ABKCO Records. His late father, Allen, bought the rights to lot of Ronnie’s original recordings, like the Phil Spector Christmas alum, decades ago.
The movie won’t just be about the Ronettes period. Ronnie became a cult figure in the 70s, recording with the E Street Band, and with Eddie Money. I can wait to see Zendaya’s version of Billy Joel’s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.” Awesome!
This will be one time I won’t complain when A24 gets someone an award at the National Board of Review!
