Actress and singer Zendaya will play Ronnie Spector in an upcoming biopic after she was personally hand-picked by the singer herself. The announcement follows the closure of a deal to secure Spector's life rights and music catalogue, with Spector's biography Be My Baby serving as inspiration. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jackie Sibblies Drury is reportedly in talks to pen the screenplay.

The Little Mermaid remake producer Marc Platt is producing the project, and Zendaya Coleman is also set to produce in addition to starring in the movie. Spector and Jonathan Greenfield will executive produce. A24 is developing the project in collaboration with New Regency, following their previous partnership working on the hit movie The Lighthouse.

Ronnie Spector personally chose Zendaya to play her in the biopic, and it's not difficult to see why. Just recently, Zendaya became the youngest woman to ever win the Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama due to her acclaimed role in Euphoria. She also found great fame for her role as MJ alongside Tom Holland's Peter Parker in the MCU's Spider-Man movies. There's even a popular fan campaign for Zendaya to star in a Kill Bill sequel opposite Uma Thurman.

Zendaya has reached great success as a singer as well, making her that much more perfect to play one of the Ronettes. Her debut single "Replay" landed at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and her self-titled album debuted at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 chart. From The Greatest Showman soundtrack, her single "Rewrite the Stars" also went platinum in the United States and the United Kingdom, and went double platinum in Australia.

A Spanish Harlem native, Spector is famous for singing as a part of the girl group the Ronettes along with her sister and cousin. Several of their songs became hits in the '60s, including "Be My Baby," "Baby, I Love You," and "Walking in the Rain." The Ronettes would become the only girl group to tour with The Beatles and were later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As detailed in her 1990 memoir, the marriage was tumultuous with Ronnie alleging imprisonment and years of abuse. She surrendered custody of their adopted children when the pair divorced in 1974, and Ronnie alleges this is because Phil had threatened her life. Phil has since been convicted and imprisoned for the murder of Lana Clarkson, a 40-year-old actress who was found dead in his mansion in 2003. He will be eligible for parole in 2025.

Quickly becoming one of Hollywood's most popular stars, there will be plenty of projects to look forward to with Zendays. She is set to appear in the upcoming movie Malcolm & Marie alongside Tenet star John David Washington. Written and directed by Sam Levinson, the movie is currently in the works at Netflix. Unless it sees a delay, we'll also be seeing Zendaya in Denis Villeneuve's Dune movie that's scheduled to release in December. Meanwhile, she can also be seen in the hit Emmy-winning drama series Euphoria on HBO. This news comes to us from Deadline.