Posted in: Current News, Editor's Picks TV News, Movies, TV | Tagged: Abdul Williams, bet, biography, bleeding cool, Bobby Brown, Darkly, Gabrielle Dennis, girls trip, HRL, Kiel Adrian Scott, Lottery Ticket, Mekhi Phifer, miniseries, new edition, pop, R&B, Rosewood, Samaria, The Bobby Brown Story, The New Edition Story, Tommy Brown, whitney houston, Woody McClain

Gabrielle Dennis to Play Whitney Houston in BET Bobby Brown Biopic

As the network examines the life of veteran R&B/pop singer Bobby Brown post-New Edition, BET has announced that Rosewood's Gabrielle Dennis (Girls Trip) will portray iconic singer Whitney Houston in the two-part miniseries The Bobby Brown Story. Set to premiere in September 2018, the project began production this week in Atlanta; written by Abdul Williams (Lottery Ticket, The New Edition Story) and directed by Kiel Adrian Scott (Samaria, Darkly).

Serving as a biographical "sequel" to January 2017's network ratings record-setter The New Edition Story, BET's The Bobby Brown Story traces Brown's (Woody McClain, reprising his New Edition role) life as he pursues a solo musical career while trying to move out New Edition. In the official overview of the miniseries, Brown is described as "one of the genre's original 'bad boys' whose life epitomizes the meaning of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" and that "his hits may have kept him at the top of the charts, but his antics kept him on the front page."

Joining Dennis and McClain for The Bobby Brown Story are: Mekhi Phifer (Frequency) as Tommy Brown, Bobby's brother; Lil Rel Howery (The Carmichael Show) as Brian Irvine, Bobby's business manager; T. K. Carter (The Corner) as Herbert "Pops" Brown, Bobby's father; Laz Alonso (The Mysteries of Laura) as Louil Silas Jr, an MCA producer-executive who helps make Bobby a solo star; Lance Gross (Star) as Steven Sealy, a childhood friend of Bobby's who is killed in a gunfight after hanging with him at a hometown bar; Alyssa Goss (B.G.) as Bobby's current wife, Alicia Etheridge; and Sandi McCree (The Wire), who reprises her The New Edition Story role as Bobby's mother Carole Brown.

The Bobby Brown Story is executive produced by Jesse Collins (The New Edition Story) for JCE Films, a film division of Jesse Collins Entertainment.

Source: Deadline Hollywood exclusive

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