Snoop Dogg and Jonathan Daviss, the Outer Banks actor who plays the hip hop superstar in an upcoming untitled biopic, kicked off Universal Pictures’ CinemaCon outing, taking the stage to talk up the film by Craig Brewer.
“I wish I could give you more details” on the project, Snoop said. But there were not many, yet. It starts filming in Los Angeles this summer. “We’ll be back at CinemaCon next year with a trailer,” he promised, launching into snippet of “Gin and Juice,” “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” and more, backed up by DJ Green Lantern.
The film follows the rise to fame of Calvin Broadus Jr., who took the moniker Snoop Doggy Dogg (later dropping the middle name). His smash debut album Doggystyle with Dr. Dre from Death Row Records hit in 1993, starting a long career with Grammy nominations. He branched into film and television and frequent collaborations with NBCUniversal, appearing on The Voice and becoming a mainstay of the network’s Olympic coverage.
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Donna Langley, chair of NBCUniversal Entertainment, stepped onstage to join Snoop and called the movie by Brewer (Hustle & Flow), “the spiritual cousin of Straight Outta Compton,” the 2015 N.W.A biopic by F. Gary Gray.
Daviss’ breakthrough role was as Pope Heyward in the Netflix YA drama Outer Banks. He also starred in Netflix’s film Do Revenge opposite Sophie Turner, Maya Hawke and Austin Abrams. Other credits include Age of Summer and Edge of the World.
Snoop Dogg is producing the biopic with Brian Grazer and Death Row, which falls Death Row Pictures’ overall deal with NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios.