Universal Pictures has added four more names to the ensemble of “Snoop,” its long-gestating biopic chronicling the life of hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg, filling out the cast of collaborators who shaped the rapper’s rise from Long Beach to global stardom. Laya DeLeon Hayes, Olly Sholotan, Corey Champagne and Jonica Booth are set to join the film, portraying figures central to Snoop’s personal and musical history.
DeLeon Hayes will play Shante Broadus, Snoop’s wife, while Sholotan takes on the role of fellow rapper Kurupt. Champagne will portray Nate Dogg, the influential singer and frequent collaborator whose smooth vocals became a signature of West Coast hip-hop in the 1990s, and Booth will play the Lady of Rage, another key figure from the Death Row Records era. The additions follow last month’s announcement that “Outer Banks” star Jonathan Daviss will lead the film in the title role, with Lauren London and Camron Jones also cast as Tupac Shakur.
Craig Brewer, the director behind “Hustle & Flow” and “Dolemite Is My Name,” is directing the project from a rewrite of an original script by “Black Panther” co-writer Joe Robert Cole. Brewer’s involvement marks a shift from earlier reporting, when “Menace II Society” director Allen Hughes was attached to the project following its initial announcement in 2022. Snoop Dogg and Death Row Pictures president Sara Ramaker are producing, alongside Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer and Allan Mandelbaum.
The film has been in development since Universal first announced it shortly after Snoop’s acquisition of Death Row Records, with studio chairman Donna Langley shepherding the project after meeting with the rapper to hear his story firsthand. The studio has drawn comparisons to its earlier successes in the genre, including “Straight Outta Compton” and “8 Mile,” both of which similarly used a filmmaker steeped in the culture surrounding their subjects to tell a defining hip-hop story.
“Snoop” is scheduled for theatrical release on Aug. 6, 2027. The film is billed as the definitive account of Snoop’s five-decade career, tracing his emergence from Long Beach alongside Dr. Dre through his transformation into one of music’s most recognizable and enduring pop culture figures.
