Algee Smith Cast as Warren G in Universal's Snoop Dogg Biopic "Snoop"

Algee Smith will portray Warren G in "Snoop," Universal Pictures' biopic of Snoop Dogg, rounding out a cast that now spans the key figures of the rapper's early career (The Hollywood Reporter).

Jonathan Daviss leads the film as Snoop Dogg himself, with Myles Bullock as Dr. Dre and Camron Jones as Tupac Shakur. Lauren London plays Beverly Tate, Snoop Dogg's late mother (Deadline). Craig Brewer, whose most recent film was "Song Sung Blue," directs from a script he rewrote — Joe Robert Cole wrote the initial draft (The Hollywood Reporter).

Warren G, born Warren Griffin III, is the connective tissue of Snoop Dogg's origin story. In the early 1990s he formed a trio called 213 with Nate Dogg and a young Snoop. Warren G then introduced Snoop to Dr. Dre, who took the aspiring rapper under his wing — a relationship that would shape West Coast hip-hop for the next decade.

Smith comes to the role with a résumé built on music biopics. He portrayed singer Ralph Tresvant in BET's miniseries "The New Edition Story" and played football star Chris McKay in HBO's "Euphoria." His film work includes Kathryn Bigelow's "Detroit" and Shaka King's "Judas and the Black Messiah," both of which earned him NAACP Image Award nominations. He is set as a series regular in HBO's "American Blue" opposite Milo Ventimiglia, and will star alongside Jamie Foxx as boxing legend Pernell Whitaker in the Netflix drama "Fight for 84" (The Hollywood Reporter).

Brian Grazer and Allan Mandelbaum are producing for Imagine Entertainment, alongside Snoop Dogg himself and Sara Ramaker, president of Death Row Pictures — the label Snoop acquired in 2022 and now runs as his production banner. Universal has set a 2027 release date for the film (Billboard).

Production is due to begin in mid-September in and around Los Angeles (The Hollywood Reporter). Brewer wrote the latest draft of the screenplay.

This is not the first time Warren G and Snoop Dogg have been cast together in a biopic. Back in 2014, Keith Stanfield was tapped to play Snoop Dogg and Sheldon A. Smith as Warren G in the N.W.A biopic "Straight Outta Compton," directed by F. Gary Gray (XXL). That film went on to gross over $200 million worldwide. A dozen years later, a new pair of actors takes on those same roles — this time with Snoop Dogg's own story at the centre of the frame.