Hit-making rapper Snoop Dogg has been making music for three decades, and during that time, the California-bred emcee has built an empire spanning far beyond the world of rap. Now, Snoop is getting the biopic treatment, as his life story will be the subject of a new movie – executive produced by Snoop himself.
Snoop Dogg’s biopic is in the works
In November 2022, just a few weeks before the 29th anniversary of Snoop Dogg’s debut album Doggystyle, Deadline reported that the first-ever Snoop Dogg biopic was in the works. Universal Pictures is partnering with his newly-formed Death Row Pictures for the project, with Allen Hughes (director of movies like The Book of Eli and Dead Presidents) set to direct the film. Joe Robert Cole, award-winning screenwriter behind Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, will write the script for the flick. Snoop, meanwhile, will serve as a producer.
Hughes is no stranger to hip-hop, or even Snoop’s outer orbit. He’s the director of the 2017 docuseries The Defiant Ones, which chronicled the rise of Dr. Dre and music executive Jimmy lovine. Dre, of course, is the one who signed Snoop to Death Row Records in the early 1990s and produced his debut album Doggystyle; Snoop himself was featured in the series.
Snoop spoke about his desire to tell his story on screen in a December 2021 interview with GQ. He ended up purchasing the Death Row Records brand (including his masters) in early 2022, following his performance at the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Dr. Dre. and other hip-hop icons. “I wanted to be the CEO of Death Row Records and basically take over the merchandise and rerelease their music, do documentaries, and possibly do my life story,” Snoop said at the time.
Snoop Dogg called his biopic ‘holy matrimony’
The untitled Snoop Dogg biopic will incorporate music from Snoop’s extensive catalog, which includes over two dozen full-length solo and collaborative albums.
“I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind,” Snoop said in a statement about the project, according to Deadline. “It was the perfect marriage. It was holy matrimony, not holy macaroni.”
Snoop Dogg’s biopic is in good hands
Universal Pictures and its chairman Donna Langley have increased their foothold in the world of music biopics over the past decade, getting various artists to consent to telling their life stories on screen as well as license their music for the movies. Snoop Dogg isn’t the only artist getting a biopic through Universal at the moment: Madonna and Cher both have biopics in the works, with both legendary artists giving their full support to the projects.
“Snoop Dogg’s life and legacy make him one of the most exciting and influential icons in popular culture,” Langley said of the upcoming film. “We met with Snoop shortly after he acquired Death Row Records and had the opportunity to hear his story in his own words. We are humbled to be able to create the lasting document of this singular artist.”
Notably, Universal was also behind the Oscar-nominated N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. In the movie, Snoop was played by Oscar-nominated actor LaKeith Stanfield.
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