Queen Latifah has signed on to star in and produce Welfare Queen, a fact-based movie about a woman who got rich by conning the government.
The story, based on the exploits of Dorothy Woods, will be produced for Focus Features by Flavor Unit, which is owned by Latifah and Shakim Compere, Daily Variety reported Wednesday.
"This is the first major deal we've signed with a studio, and we did it because we felt confident we could go from Welfare Queen to Horror in the Hamptons, which is a script by Alex Mirkin about a bunch of 16-year-olds chopping each other up," Latifah said. "We get our hands on a lot of material we can do well, and our dream is to work up to producing three movies a year. The deal isn't based on me being in every film."
New Jersey-based Flavor Unit's recent credits include Bringing Down the House, The Cookout and Beauty Shop.
BACK IN THE LIMELIGHT
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Will Smith is taking a break from producing to star in the thriller Greenbacks for 20th Century Fox.
Smith, who is producing and starring in The Pursuit of Happiness and producing Monster Hunter, will play an ex-patriot living in Morocco in "Greenbacks," Daily Variety reported.
Smith's character stumbles upon a plot to destabilize the world economy though a sophisticated money counterfeiting plot.
The movie was pitched by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, whose credits include The Rock and Double Jeopardy.
TAKING THE STAGE
This year's edition of Seattle's annual Bumbershoot music and arts festival will include performances from Kanye West and A Tribe Called Quest.
Set take place on September 2nd to the 4th , the festival to kick off on Saturday and run through Monday, instead of Friday through Sunday, organizers said.
Tickets will go on sale July 15 via Bumbershoot.org or through Ticketmaster.
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