Mary J. Blige Inks First-Look Deal With Lionsgate
On the heels of receiving her Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 BET Awards, Mary J. Blige has something else to be excited about.
The Queen of hip-hop soul is moving into television production with a new first-look TV deal that the singer, songwriter, and actress recently signed with Lionsgate, as The Hollywood Reporter reports.
The “My Life” singer will develop and produce series via her new production company titled Blue Butterfly Productions.
Blige’s deal allows her to create content for the studio’s various platforms.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with Lionsgate,” Blige said in a statement. “They are incredible collaborators and have been natural partners from when we first started talking. I can’t wait to bring all of our projects to life.”
“Mary is a very talented artist, fearless visionary and an incredible human being. We’re delighted to be working with someone with such a powerful and impactful creative voice,” said Lionsgate Television Group chairman Kevin Beggs.
“Every art she touches blossoms, and we’re humbled she’s chosen us as her home. We look forward to all the exciting new content Mary and her Blue Butterfly banner will bring to our television slate and Lionsgate 360 orbit.”
Blige who is repped by APA, The Lede Company and Grubman Shire, currently stars on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy and the third season of MTV’s Scream, which has moved to VH1.
In 2017, Blige garnered an Oscar nomination for best-supporting actress for her role in Mudbound, and her song from the movie, “Mighty River” was also nominated for best original song.
Blige is among the increasing roster of first-look and overall deals that the film company has made within the last year. Others that have also inked deals with Lionsgate are Power‘s Courtney Kemp, Love & Hip Hop creator Mona Scott-Young, and Common.
Glennisha Morgan is a Detroit-bred multimedia journalist and writer. She writes about intersectionality, hip-hop, pop culture, queer issues, race, feminism, and her truth. Follow her on Twitter.
