Tyler Perry & DeVon Franklin Faith-Based Film ‘R&B’ Sets Serayah & Tyler Lepley Among 9 In Cast
Tyler Perry Studios and DeVon Franklin have set the cast and director of their first faith-based film for Netflix, under their deal with the streamer revealed in May.
R&B stars Serayah (Empire), Tyler Lepley (Harlem), Phylicia Rashad (The Gilded Age), Walnette Santiago (Doom Patrol), Nijah Brenea (Kold x Windy), James Lee Thomas (One Spoon of Chocolate), Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Jermaine Dupri (Genius: Aretha) and Lecrae Moore. Alanna Brown (Trees of Peace) will take on directing duties.
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From writers Michael Elliot (Brown Sugar) and Cory Tynan (Play’d), R&B is a modern-day retelling of the story of Ruth and Boaz, a love story from the Bible. Set in Tennessee, the film tells the story of a young woman who escapes the Atlanta music scene to care for an elderly widowed woman and in the process finds the love of her life and gains the mother she never had.
Brown’s directorial and screenwriting debut, Trees of Peace, was released by Netflix in 2022 where it cracked the streamer’s Top Ten in its first week. The film won the top 3 jury prizes at the American Black Film Festival, including the John Singleton Award for best first feature, and the top jury award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In TV, Alanna previously wrote on Season 1 of Starz’s spinoff of the critically acclaimed film, Blindspotting created by Rafael Kasal and Daveed Diggs. Additionally, she was named to the Black List for her screenplay, Water Between Worlds f.k.a The 29th Accident, which she will also direct.
DeVon Franklin and Tyler Perry serve as producers on R&B which is executive produced by Angi Bones, Tony L. Strickland and Bart Lipton.
Perry has various other projects in the works at Netflix including two upcoming releases: The Six Triple Eight, a film starring an ensemble cast led by Kerry Washington, premiering on December 20; the drama series Beauty in Black stars Crystle Stewart and Taylor Polidore Williams dropping via the streamer on October 24.
Franklin’s latest production was last year’s Flamin’ Hot, directed by Eva Longoria. He also produced 2016’s Miracles from Heaven starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah. Up next, he will star opposite William H. Macy and John Corbett in the film On Fire, from Sean McNamara.
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