{"id":75684,"date":"2016-05-13T10:28:38","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T10:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2016\/05\/13\/letoya-luckett-to-play-dionne-warwick-in-dionne\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T03:03:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:03:40","slug":"letoya-luckett-to-play-dionne-warwick-in-dionne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/letoya-luckett-to-play-dionne-warwick-in-dionne\/","title":{"rendered":"LeToya Luckett To Play Dionne Warwick in \u201cDionne\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

LeToya Luckett To Play Dionne Warwick in \u201cDionne\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>Posted by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

May 13, 2016<\/p>\n

Source: Variety<\/a><\/p>\n

\"LaToya<\/a><\/p>\n

Early this morning at the Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that former Destiny Child’s member and actress LeToya Luckett<\/strong> will play Dionne Warwick<\/strong> in \u201cDionne,\u201d<\/strong> a new biopic about the legendary singer.<\/p>\n

Included in the news was that Lady Gaga<\/strong> will be co-starring and playing the role as the late English singer Cilla Black<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Update:\u00a0Lady Gaga’s reps sent out a statement saying she was not involved with the project: \u201cShe 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Variety reported that Warwick, who attended a press conference at the Carlton Hotel, described Black\u00a0as \u201cher nemesis.\u201d \u201cShe stole my songs,\u201d Warwick explained. \u201cI was not a very camper about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mario<\/a><\/p>\n

Black died on 1 August 2015 after a fall in her villa in Estepona, Spain (via Wikipedia<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Mario Van Peebles<\/strong> in talks to direct. Danny Glover<\/strong> will portray Warwick\u2019s father, Mansel Warwick. Olympia Dukakis<\/strong> will co-star as German songstress and actress Marlene Dietrich, who mentored Warwick.<\/p>\n

The film will span the early days of Warwick\u2019s career from 1962 to 1968, as she belted out would-be classics like \u201cAlfie\u201d<\/strong> and \u201cI Say a Little Prayer.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Danny<\/a><\/p>\n

Warwick, 75, said she was pleased that Luckett was channeling her on the big screen. \u201cShe just kind of morphed,\u201d<\/strong> Warwick said of meeting the actress. \u201cVocally, she was right. Her look was completely right.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

AMBI Pictures and David F. Wooley\u2019s WW Film Company are financing the movie. Producers are Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Wooley and Jacker Binder.\u00a0Shooting is set to begin in October.<\/p>\n

The sited stated Wooley revealed that he\u2019s 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 \u201cMy Life, As I See It: An Autobiography\u201d<\/strong> with Warwick. Then the movie was back on track, with Randall Jahnson<\/strong> (\u201cThe Doors\u201d) writing the latest screenplay with Wooley.<\/p>\n

AMBI Distribution is handling global sales.<\/p>\n