Zoe Saldana to Play Singer Nina Simone in Biopic

The Nina Simone biopic will finally sing.

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Zoe Saldana has come aboard to star as the iconic singer in Nina, while David Oyelowo will star as her manager, Clifton Henderson.

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Cynthia Mort wrote the script and has been attached as director for several years, even as Mary J. Blige came onto the project as star then moved on due to funding issues.

Those issues appear to be finally settled as the movie is due to begin production Oct. 16 in Los Angeles.

Mark Burton, Barnaby Thompson, Stuart Parr and Ben Latham Jones are producing.

Simone rose as a singer-songwriter in the 1950s and became involved in the civil rights movement in the '60s, even advocating violence. Tax issues forced her to relocate to other countries, including France, where she died in 2003. Henderson was her assistant and manager later in life.

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Saldana recently wrapped Out of the Furnace, a thriller that also stars Christian Bale and Casey Affleck, and the sequel to Star Trek. She is repped by ICM Partners.

Oyelowo will be seen in Paramount's Tom Cruise actioner Jack Reacher and is shooting The Butler, Lee Daniels’ drama about a real-life worker in the White House. He is repped by ICM, Inphenate and Hamilton Hodell.

Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com
Twitter: @Borys_Kit