Jenni Rivera Biopic In The Works From Mucho Mas Media & De Line Pictures

Jenni Rivera, the famed Mexican-American singer-songwriter, TV star, and activist who died tragically in a plane accident in 2012, will be immortalized in film form. Mucho Mas Media and De Line Pictures have acquired the life rights of Rivera from Jenni Rivera Enterprises with plans to develop a film that will focus on the life of the Banda Ranchera mega-star who touched not only her Spanish-speaking fan base but also successfully crossed over into the U.S. and global markets.

Kate Lanier, the screenwriter behind the Angela Bassett-starring Tina Turner biopic, What’s Love Got to Do with It, and the F. Gary Gray-directed cult classic, Set It Off, is attached to pen the screenplay for Rivera’s story.

Born in Long Beach, California – her mother just having crossed the border on foot while pregnant with Jenni – Rivera began her recording career in 1992, going on to become a top-selling artist in Regional Mexican music with multiple Billboard Music Awards, twenty-two Billboard Latin Music Awards, eighteen Lo Nuestro Awards, and four Latin Grammy nominations. She’s also known for her role in disrupting cultural precedent by crossing into Banda, a male-dominated music genre, and eventually into pop-music.

Rivera was outspoken about her life and the challenges of being a woman in the male-dominated world of music and entertainment, along with her own personal experiences dealing with domestic and sexual violence. She was a spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

“My sister dreamt of a biopic of her life for many years, we are thrilled it will come to fruition,” said Rosie Rivera, Jenni Rivera’s sister. “We never imagined such an amazing producing and writing team like Donald De Line and Kate Lanier would join together with us to help make her dream a reality. We are overjoyed and excited to begin this process. It’s taken time to get here because we had to trust Jenni’s story in the right hands – and we are confident that we made the best partnership with Mucho Mas Media and this creative team.”

Producers are Javier Chapa and Simon Wise of Mucho Mas Media and Donald De Line of De Line Pictures.

The project was negotiated by Anjelica Cohn on behalf of Jenni Rivera Enterprises, her family and the producers.

Lanier is repped The Gersh Agency.

View this article at Deadline.