LOS ANGELES — Universal Pictures’ upcoming Snoop Dogg biopic is filling out its cast, with Camron Jones set to portray Tupac Shakur, Algee Smith playing Warren G, and Tre Hale taking on the role of Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight.
The three actors join Outer Banks star Jonathan Daviss, who will portray Snoop Dogg in the film titled Snoop. The movie is scheduled for a wide theatrical release on Aug. 6, 2027.
Myles Bullock has also been cast as Dr. Dre, while Lauren London will play Snoop Dogg’s late mother, Beverly Tate. Together, the cast suggests the film will devote substantial attention to Snoop’s emergence from Long Beach and his years at Death Row Records.
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Jones is best known for starring in Amazon’s Panic, and has also appeared in Grown-ish, The Purge and Shameless. His casting places him among the most important figures in Snoop Dogg’s career and in 1990s West Coast hip-hop.
Snoop and Tupac were labelmates at Death Row Records and collaborated on “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” released on Tupac’s 1996 album All Eyez on Me.
Smith, meanwhile, will portray Warren G. His previous credits include HBO’s Euphoria, Detroit, Judas and the Black Messiah, and The New Edition Story, in which he played Ralph Tresvant.
Warren G has an important place in Snoop’s early career. He, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg formed the group 213 in Long Beach before achieving individual success.
Warren G also helped connect Snoop with his stepbrother Dr. Dre. Snoop subsequently appeared on Dre’s 1992 album The Chronic before releasing his debut album, Doggystyle, the following year.
Hale will portray Suge Knight, who co-founded Death Row Records and became one of the defining executives of the gangsta rap era.
Knight’s label released some of the most consequential West Coast hip-hop records of the 1990s and was closely associated with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac.
Snoop eventually left Death Row, but his relationship with the company took another turn decades later when he acquired the Death Row Records brand in 2022.
The growing ensemble provides more information about Snoop even though Universal has yet to disclose a detailed plot.
The studio has described the film as a biopic of Snoop Dogg as an artist and entertainment mogul and confirmed that music from his catalog will be incorporated into the movie.
Craig Brewer is directing the project from his rewrite of a screenplay originally written by Joe Robert Cole.
Brewer previously directed the music dramas Hustle & Flow and Song Sung Blue. He also directed Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy.
Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer is producing Snoop alongside Snoop Dogg and Death Row Pictures President Sara Ramaker. The film is the first project under Death Row Pictures’ overall agreement with NBCUniversal Entertainment.
Grazer previously produced 8 Mile, the 2002 film starring Eminem, while Universal was also behind the 2015 N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton.
Production on Snoop is expected to begin in the Los Angeles area in mid-September.
Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Broadus Jr., emerged from the Long Beach rap scene in the early 1990s and gained national attention through his collaborations with Dr. Dre.
His 1993 debut Doggystyle established him as one of the decade’s biggest hip-hop artists. He has since expanded into film, television, business, and sports entertainment while continuing to release music.
The fact that Snoop is producing his own biopic also distinguishes the project from earlier films portraying figures from the Death Row era.
Tupac was previously portrayed by Demetrius Shipp Jr. in the 2017 biopic All Eyez on Me, while Dr. Dre and Suge Knight were depicted in Straight Outta Compton.
With Jones, Smith, and Hale now joining the cast, Snoop is beginning to assemble most of the figures central to Snoop Dogg’s rise through Long Beach’s rap scene and Death Row Records.
Universal currently plans to release the film in theaters on Aug. 6, 2027.
