Snoop Dogg’s life is coming to the big screen in an R-rated Universal biopic starring Jonathan Daviss and directed by Craig Brewer, with a theatrical release set for August 6, 2027. The film is expected to explore his evolution from a Long Beach rapper to a global entertainer, entrepreneur, and cannabis icon, although the exact scope of the story remains under wraps.
Snoop Dogg’s creatively chaotic, fun and, of course, cannabis-fueled life is officially coming to the big screen. Universal Pictures announced that Snoop, an R-rated film about the rapper’s life and career, will be released in theaters on August 6, 2027.
With no shortage of ambition, the studio is billing the film as “the definitive biopic of artist, mogul, and icon of gangsta rap, Snoop Dogg”—a statement that hints at a broader scope than the traditional musical rise-to-fame story. The film will not only have to explain how Calvin Broadus Jr. became one of the defining voices of West Coast hip-hop, but also how he remained relevant for more than three decades, reinventing himself across different personas, business ventures, and audiences.
From Outer Banks to Playing Snoop Dogg
Jonathan Daviss, known for his role as Pope Heyward in the Netflix series Outer Banks, will shoulder the responsibility—and the honor—of playing Snoop. The choice presents him with a unique challenge: to portray a living person whose voice, mannerisms, sense of humor, and sheer presence are instantly recognizable even to those who don’t usually listen to his music.
Daviss said he was able to spend time with the rapper to study those details up close. According to the actor, Snoop invited him to tag along, observe his mannerisms, and pay attention to how he joked around and interacted with others. However, his goal isn’t to create a caricature. “I didn’t want to do a Snoop Dogg impression,” he explained. His aim is to capture the young man from Long Beach who lived through extraordinary circumstances before becoming a world-famous figure.
The film will be directed by Craig Brewer, who helmed Hustle & Flow, Dolemite Is My Name, and Song Sung Blue. Brewer will rewrite the original screenplay by Joe Robert Cole, co-writer of Black Panther.
Snoop has already worked with Brewer on Dolemite Is My Name, but the choice also reflects Brewer’s experience telling stories shaped by music. During CinemaCon, the rapper said his moment had finally arrived following Straight Outta Compton: “Now it’s my turn,” he told the audience.
Production is expected to begin in Los Angeles in the summer of 2026. For now, the plot remains under wraps. It’s unclear whether the film will cover his entire career—from his appearances alongside Dr. Dre on “Deep Cover” and The Chronic to his transformation into an entrepreneur and TV personality—or focus on a specific period. Snoop, however, said it will be an “evolution story” about his life, his family, and his relationship with the woman who would later become his wife.
In another interview, he explained that although his life is still unfolding, he felt it was important to tell the story of his early years, the people he learned from, and the process by which he built his identity. “A lot of people just see me for who I am now, and they don’t know what I went through and what I had to do to get to this stage,” he said.
That offers an important clue: the film may be as interested in the person behind the public persona as in the events that shaped him before fame.
Music, Ownership, and Weed’s Place in His Story
The film will be produced by Brian Grazer, Snoop Dogg, and Sara Ramaker, president of Death Row Pictures, and will feature music from the rapper’s extensive catalog. It will be the first project developed under NBCUniversal Entertainment’s overall deal with Death Row Pictures, the film and television arm of Death Row Records—the label that launched Snoop’s career and that he acquired decades later.
That detail makes the film more than just an authorized biography. As a producer on the project, the rapper will bring his own story to the big screen through a company bearing the name of the label where it all began. When the project was announced in 2022, he said he had waited until he found the right team and described the partnership with Universal as “the perfect matrimony.”
Donna Langley, then president of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, said that Snoop’s life and legacy make him one of the most influential figures in popular culture. She also noted that the studio had the opportunity to hear his story firsthand shortly after the acquisition of Death Row Records.
And in that story, weed can hardly be treated as a footnote. For decades, Snoop wove it into his lyrics, his public image and, later, his business ventures. His business portfolio eventually included projects such as Death Row Cannabis and various investments in the industry through Casa Verde Capital.
However, Universal has not yet confirmed whether weed will play a central role in the film. Nor has it revealed which business ventures, controversies, or cultural shifts will feature in the plot.
What has been confirmed is the studio’s intention to portray the artist, the mogul, and the icon—three facets closely tied to the way Snoop helped carry cannabis culture from rap into branding, investment, and mainstream entertainment.
With Snoop set for release in August 2027, the filmmakers are still keeping most details close to the vest: there’s no official synopsis, no production stills, and no confirmation of exactly which moments of his life will take center stage in the film. But the project already raises an interesting question: how do you condense into two hours the story of an artist who went from being one of the most recognizable voices in gangsta rap to becoming an entrepreneur, a familiar face on television, and a global symbol of cannabis culture?
If the film manages to go beyond mere imitation and reveal the contradictions behind the persona, the studio’s “definitive biopic” could also become a story about reinvention, control over one’s own legacy, and cultural survival.
Cover photo by Jørund Føreland Pedersen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (edited)
