It’s been a few years since we first learned that Universal Pictures was planning a Snoop Dogg biopic movie, and now the project has received a couple of big updates.
First, it’s been announced that director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Dolemite Is My Name) will be helming the film, per Deadline. He’ll also be doing some reworks to the script, which was penned by Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole back in 2022 when the project was first announced and Allen Hughes (Menace II Society) was attached as director.
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Additionally, it has been revealed that Outer Banks actor Jonathan Daviss — also known professionally as JD — has been cast in the film to portray Snoop Dogg, and he’s since received the iconic rapper’s approval on social media.
According to a description from Deadline, “The film is a look at how Calvin Broadus Jr. entered into the West Coast hip hop fray. Taking the moniker Snoop Doggy Dogg (he’d later drop the middle name), Snoop brought his laid back drawling delivery and sharp lyrics to Death Row Records, where he worked with Dr Dre on his smash debut album Doggystyle.”
Deadline adds: “He broadened into other platforms to the point he might well be seen rubbing elbows with Martha Stewart or getting in the pool with Michael Phelps during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he became one of the high points of that Olympiad on NBC and Peacock.”
The as-yet-untitled film is the first project under Death Row Pictures’ overall deal with NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios, as the hip-hop music label makes a move into film. The partnership makes sense, as Snoop has had a longtime partnership with NBCUniversal, appearing as a judge on NBC’s The Voice and hosting multiple holiday specials on Peacock, as well as his own comedy-crime reality show: So Dumb It’s Criminal.
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