It has been a while since we last checked in on the maybe/maybe not biopic about the life of fallen Supreme Florence Ballard, but film blog Shadow and Act spotted something curious on the flick’s IMDB profile.
As previously noted, production on “Blondie: The Florence Ballard Story” hit a snag when singer Faith Evans walked away from the title role. Jurnee Smollett at the time was rumored to have stepped into the Ballard role, playing the Motown singer unceremoniously ousted from the girl group who later fell into a life of poverty before dying in 1976.
On the film’s IMDB page, Smollett is listed as still “rumored” to be playing Ballard — and Solange Knowles, Beyonce’s younger sister, is rumored to be playing Diana Ross.
That’d certainly be interesting, considering that Beyonce is no stranger to playing in Detroit-centric musical films where a member of the group is kicked out. And picturing the younger Knowles as the glamorous Ross isn’t a stretch — have you seen her “I Decided” video?
Martha Coolidge was originally slated to direct, but IMDB now lists Todd Turner as sitting in the director’s chair. There’s no word on Kandi Burruss, the Xscape member/Atlanta “Housewife” who was bandied about as Florence’s older sister, Maxine; nor is there any word on Adrien Brody, who would have been playing Peter Benjaminson, the real-life author of the film’s source material.
Should “Blondie” ever go into production and finally hit theaters, it’d be another girl-group film in the works with area ties. As previously announced, a remake of “Sparkle” with a Motown focus will be filmed here in Metro Detroit.
