Everything We Know About Snoop Dogg’s Biopic

Snoop Dogg has spent more than three decades evolving from one of the faces of West Coast Hip-Hop into a full-blown pop culture institution, so a movie about his life always felt inevitable. Now, that movie is officially taking shape. Universal Pictures’ Snoop is being billed as the definitive biopic on Calvin Broadus Jr., following his journey from his early days in Long Beach to becoming one of the most recognizable rappers and entertainers in the world. The studio has already set the film for a wide theatrical release on August 6, 2027, with production expected to begin around Los Angeles in mid-September.

At the center of it all is Jonathan Daviss, best known for playing Pope Heyward on Netflix’s Outer Banks. Daviss was announced as Snoop back in 2025, and the rapper has publicly backed the choice, praising the young actor’s ability to soak up not just his mannerisms, but the spirit of who he is. The distinction will probably be important. Snoop’s story stretched well beyond copying his voice or learning how to walk like him; the movie has to capture a young Calvin Broadus before the fame, the emergence of Snoop Doggy Dogg during the early 1990s, and the many versions of Snoop that followed.

And you can’t properly tell that story without Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur and Death Row Records. BMF and White Men Can’t Jump actor Myles Bullock Be has been cast as Dr. Dre, whose relationship with Snoop helped launch the rapper onto the national stage through The Chronic before Dre produced Snoop’s 1993 debut album, Doggystyle. Camron Jones, known for Panic and The Purge, will portray Tupac Shakur, Snoop’s friend, labelmate and collaborator during one of the most influential — and chaotic — eras in rap history.

The Death Row side of Snoop’s story is looking increasingly stacked. Tre Hale, who appears in Netflix’s Nemesis and Apple TV+’s Platonic, has been tapped to play Suge Knight, the imposing Death Row co-founder whose presence looms over nearly every retelling of West Coast rap in the 1990s. Meanwhile, Euphoria and The New Edition Story actor Algee Smith will play Warren G, another Long Beach native whose friendship and musical connection with Snoop and Nate Dogg predates their mainstream success. The newest round of casting adds even more familiar names from Snoop’s early years: Olly Sholotan (Bel-Air) will play Kurupt, Corey Champagne (Seven Seconds) will portray Nate Dogg and Jonica Booth (Rap Sh!t) will take on The Lady of Rage. Laya DeLeon Hayes (The Equalizer) has also been cast as Shante Broadus, Snoop’s high school sweetheart and longtime wife. Add them to Myles Bullock as Dr. Dre and Camron Jones as Tupac Shakur, and the movie is quickly assembling a lineup that looks like a snapshot of Snoop’s life during the height of the West Coast and Death Row era.

The Snoop Dogg biopic will also dig into Snoop’s life before the world knew his name. Lauren London has been cast as Beverly Tate, Snoop’s late mother, who died in 2021. Tate was a major influence on her son and famously gave him the childhood nickname “Snoopy,” inspired by the Peanuts character, which eventually evolved into the stage name recognized around the world. London and Snoop already have their own history as well: she appeared in the music video for Snoop and Pharrell’s 2004 smash “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” giving her casting a cool full-circle connection to the rapper she’ll now help portray on screen.

Behind the camera, the Snoop Dogg biopic project has some strong Hip-Hop movie credentials. Craig Brewer, whose résumé includes Hustle & Flow, Dolemite Is My Name and Coming 2 America, is directing and working from his rewrite of an original screenplay by Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole. Snoop himself is producing alongside Brian Glazer, whose credits include Eminem’s 8 Mile, Death Row Pictures president Sara Ramaker and Imagine Entertainment’s Allan Mandelbaum. The movie will also have access to music from Snoop’s extensive catalog, which should allow the filmmakers to tell his story with the records that actually defined each stage of it.

There’s still plenty about Snoop that Universal is keeping under wraps, including exactly how far into his life the story will go, but the growing cast is already telling us plenty about where the movie plans to spend its time. With Shante Broadus, Dr. Dre, Tupac, Suge Knight, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Kurupt and The Lady of Rage all represented, Snoop’s Long Beach beginnings, rise alongside Dre and years at Death Row clearly appear positioned to play a major role. The movie will also incorporate music from Snoop’s own catalog and marks the first project under Death Row Pictures’ overall deal with NBCUniversal Entertainment. With Snoop himself producing and August 6, 2027 already set as the theatrical release date, the Snoop Dogg biopic is shaping up to be as much a look at a defining era of West Coast Hip-Hop as it is the story of the man who became one of its biggest icons.

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Everything We Know About Snoop Dogg’s Biopic was originally published on cassiuslife.com