LeToya Luckett To Play Dionne Warwick in “Dionne” Posted by Wilson Morales
May 13, 2016
Source: Variety
Early this morning at the Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that former Destiny Child’s member and actress LeToya Luckett will play Dionne Warwick in “Dionne,” a new biopic about the legendary singer.
Included in the news was that Lady Gaga will be co-starring and playing the role as the late English singer Cilla Black.
Update: Lady Gaga’s reps sent out a statement saying she was not involved with the project: “She is not attached and will not appear in this project.” Gaga, who was supposed to play Cilla Black, the singer’s “musical nemesis,” had never heard of the project, according to sources.
Variety reported that Warwick, who attended a press conference at the Carlton Hotel, described Black as “her nemesis.” “She stole my songs,” Warwick explained. “I was not a very camper about that.”
Black died on 1 August 2015 after a fall in her villa in Estepona, Spain (via Wikipedia).
Mario Van Peebles in talks to direct. Danny Glover will portray Warwick’s father, Mansel Warwick. Olympia Dukakis will co-star as German songstress and actress Marlene Dietrich, who mentored Warwick.
The film will span the early days of Warwick’s career from 1962 to 1968, as she belted out would-be classics like “Alfie” and “I Say a Little Prayer.”
Warwick, 75, said she was pleased that Luckett was channeling her on the big screen. “She just kind of morphed,” Warwick said of meeting the actress. “Vocally, she was right. Her look was completely right.”
AMBI Pictures and David F. Wooley’s WW Film Company are financing the movie. Producers are Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Wooley and Jacker Binder. Shooting is set to begin in October.
The sited stated Wooley revealed that he’s already spent 10 years getting the story to the big screen. After early scripts stalled, he realized that he needed a book to adapt the movie from, and co-authored “My Life, As I See It: An Autobiography” with Warwick. Then the movie was back on track, with Randall Jahnson (“The Doors”) writing the latest screenplay with Wooley.
AMBI Distribution is handling global sales.
