Zendaya + A24 + Jenkins: the biopic that’s shaking up Hollywood
A forgotten rock icon, an acclaimed actress (Zendaya), an Oscar-winning director: all the ingredients are there to make “Be My Baby” the most surprising biopic of 2025.
Zendaya, the new face of female rock’n’roll
The announcement has already sent shockwaves through the world of independent cinema: Zendaya will play the role of Ronettes legend Ronnie Spector in a biopic directed by Barry Jenkins and produced by A24. The project, approved by the singer during her lifetime, is based on her memoir “Be My Baby” (1990), a moving account of a life spent between light and control.
At just 28, Zendaya is about to take on her most ambitious role yet. After Euphoria, Dune and The Drama (forthcoming with Robert Pattinson), the actress takes on the role of a voice that has left its mark on history, but whose freedom has long been restricted.
A story far from clichés
No linear biopic here. The film deconstructs chronology to delve deeper into Ronnie Spector’s darker side. Behind the XXL eyelashes and lacquered buns, a woman in thrall: her toxic marriage to Phil Spector, a megalomaniac producer, trapped the singer in a terrifying in camera situation – until she fled in 1972, barefoot, her shoes confiscated by her husband.
This tension between global success and domestic violence is at the heart of the script. Barry Jenkins, winner of the Oscar for Moonlight, seems uniquely capable of such narrative alchemy.
An icon too long silenced
Ronnie Spector is a style, a sound, a myth. With the Ronettes, she rocked the 60s, shared the stage with Jimi Hendrix and crossed paths with the Beatles. Her unique voice, recorded on the legendary Wall of Sound, propelled songs like Be My Baby and Baby, I Love You to the status of timeless anthems.
But she’s also a survivor, who took up the mike again, released three solo albums, and was finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
A release to keep an eye on
Carried by an explosive cast and a much-needed story, Be My Baby promises to be an emotional and aesthetic shock. No official release date has yet been set, but the film is already the talk of the town.
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