Fans and family of the late “Princess of R&B” Aaliyah have gotten their wish, Zendaya Coleman will no longer star in Lifetime’s planned TV biopic about the singer.
The change was announced on Lifetime’s PR Twitter earlier today.
We are sad Zendaya will no longer portray Aaliyah. Production is currently on hold.
— LifetimePR (@LifetimeTV_PR) June 29, 2014
The production of the film and Zendaya’s casting in the starring role were both announced just earlier this month. The TV movie, under the working title Aaliyah: Princess of R&B was scheduled to begin filming this summer and air during the fall. The movie was based on Christopher Farley’s bestseller Aaliyah: More Than a Woman, according to E! Online.
E! Online reports that problems rose during the production of the film, including issues obtaining the rights to Aaliyah’s music. This difficulty was foreshadowed by Aaliyah’s family, who, displeased with the small scale nature of a TV movie, vowed to do everything in their power to prevent Lifetime from using Aaliyah’s music, and block the release of the film, according to TMZ.
Zendaya has used Twitter to share the news. The former Disney star has been retweeting news stories and photos regarding her departure from the film. Zendaya’s camp also appears to have responded saying, “if she is going to do it, she wants to do it right.”
"Aaliyah has always been a source of inspiration to Zendaya. She was honored to portray her and pay tribute to her...
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) June 29, 2014
...if she is going to do it, she wants to do it right." pic.twitter.com/SSVYpA3SrK
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) June 29, 2014
Production on the film has been halted.
Image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com
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