Allen Hughes, who is half Armenian, is set to direct a biopic on the life of Snoop Dogg for Universal Pictures. Snoop Dogg will produce alongside Allen Hughes and Sara Ramaker.
The film, which will mark the first definitive biopic of the artist, will be written by Joe Robert Cole, who co-penned Black Panther films with Ryan Coogler.
Allen Hughes is known for directing films such as Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, and The Book of Eli with his twin brother, Albert Hughes. Their mother Aida's family are Armenian from Tehran. Aida was supportive of her sons' ambitions as filmmakers, giving them a video camera when they were 12 years ago. The boys spent their free time making short films.
In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2010, when asked if the brothers go to church, Allen Hughes commented: "We went to church. We were born Christians, initially. Armenia is a Christian nation surrounded by Muslims. In fact, we’re Persian Armenians. My mother’s family’s from Tehran and Iran, and Armenians are the only Christians in Iran. Or as the whites say, ‘Eye-ran.’"
Snoop Dogg remarked: “I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind."
Allen Hughes is also the director of Dear Mama, a comprehensive five-part documentary series on Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni Shakur. The director has the full cooperation of the Tupac Shakur estate, including access to all of his music and poetry. Dear Mama had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
