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Leon Bennett/FilmMagic; Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesLeToya Luckett is about to add a plum role to her acting resume. She’s signed on to play veteran music star Dionne Warwick in a planned biopic, according to Variety.
The news was announced Friday morning at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
The former Destiny’s Child singer will be joined by pop superstar and actress Lady Gaga as the late British singer Cilla Black. Other cast members include Danny Glover, who’ll play Warwick’s father, and Olympia Dukakis, playing the late screen legend Marlene Dietrich, who championed Warwick during her star-making tour of France in 1967.
Mario Van Peebles is in talks to direct the as-yet untitled film, which is scheduled to begin shooting in October.
Warwick, who’s met Luckett, is pleased with the casting choice, telling Variety, “Vocally, she was right. Her look was completely right.” Luckett currently stars in the TV One series Here We Go Again.
The movie will reportedly cover Warwick’s career from 1962 to 1968, when she first became a star on the strength of pop classics like “Alfie” and “I Say a Little Prayer,” from her longtime collaboration with songwriter/composers Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
Warwick, 75, is one of the biggest hitmakers of the pop and rock eras, and ranks second only to Aretha Franklin in the number of singles she’s placed on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998.
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