Earlier this year when Lifetime announced that the station would be producing a biopic on the late r&b songstress, Aaliyah, fans did not know what to expect. Many people, including the late singer’s family, wanted her story to be immortalized in a feature film instead of a made for TV movie. When Lifetime then announced that 17 year old actress Zendaya Coleman would be playing Aaliyah many fans became outraged, citing that Coleman’s acting resume was not substantial enough for her to successfully take on the role, while others complained that her complexion was not dark enough to make her a believable replication of the brown skinned singer.
In June 2014 when Coleman decided to walk away from the role fans began speculating the reason behind her exit and also became curious about the future of the film. In July Coleman released a series of videos via Instagram stating that she did not step down from the role because of the “haters” who said that she wasn’t “talented enough” or “black enough”, instead she noted the film’s “production value” as the main reason for her departure, mentioning that producers were having issues gaining the rights to use Aaliyah’s original recordings, a complication that arose because of the Lifetime network’s exclusion of Aaliyah’s family in the making of the project. However, Coleman’s exit did not halt the film’s production and she was quickly replaced with actress Alexandra Shipp who has starred in Nickelodeon’s House of Anubis
Even with a new, darker skinned actress on board, many were still leery of Lifetime’s attempt to tell the singer’s story. In an interview, Aaliyah’s cousin and president of Blackground Records, Jomo Hankerson stated: “It needs to be a project that’s way more painstakingly done…to put it on the small screen, it’s not the right treatment for her legacy,” and recently there have been talks of a feature film re-telling Aaliyah’s story-this time with input from her family members, including uncle Barry Hankerson. This new feature length production is rumored to be titled “Aaliyah” and will feature singer B. Simone.
Now it appears that the “One in a Million” singer will be the subject of not one, but two biopics, as Lifetime will continue their production regardless of the feature length film. Those working on the full length production believe that their film will be a more intimate look at Aaliyah’s life because it will involve the input of those who knew her, while the Lifetime movie will rely heavily on Christopher Farley’s book, Aaliyah: More Than a Woman. With two options, fans will now be able to decide for themselves which story they feel depicts Aaliyah most realistically- either way, it is clear that Aaliyah’s legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of many.
(Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo77IrbCtp5%2BXe6S7zGiYmqSZrq6pecGipqmhk6h6uLvRpKpo