Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Congrats to Grammy nominated-singer/songwriter Luke James and “Empire” actor Bryshere Y. Gray. The two will star in BET’s upcoming biopic on life of R&B music icons—New Edition.
According to S&A, James will star as Johnny Gill and Gray as Michael Bivins. Rounding out the cast is “The Wiz” star Elijah Kelley as Rickey Bell, Algee Smith as Ralph Tresvant; Keith Powers as Ronnie Devoe, and Woody McClain as Bobby Brown.
According to BET’s press release, “New Edition: The Movie” is a 3-part miniseries that follows the group from their humble beginnings as kids in Boston to global megastardom – weathering the highs and lows of controversy, personnel changes, and the ultimate cost of fame. The film was written by Abdul Williams and is executive produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment and directed by Chris Robinson.
New Edition laid the foundation for how modern-day boy bands look, feel, and sound. Boyz II Men, N’SYNC, The Backstreet Boys, and New Kids On The Block all took their cues from Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph and Johnny. After 30 years of breaking hearts on the record and from the stage, New Edition finally gets the biopic that their stellar tenure in entertainment so richly deserves.
Stay tuned…
Photo Credit: ThatGrapeJuice.com