Snoop Dogg’s upcoming biopic celebrating his 30-plus-year career and life, from director Craig Brewer —  says will create some connections to the Oscar-nominated hit Straight Outta Compton. Development on the new biopic kicked off in June 2025 with Brewer, known for helming the Oscar-winning Hustle & Flow and the Golden Globe-nominated Dolemite Is My Name, signing on to direct and revise a script from Black Panther’s Joe Robert Cole.

In an interview with ScreenRant for Brewer’s latest biopic Song Sung Blue, he opened up about the upcoming Snoop Dogg biopic. When asked whether the film would be set in the same universe as 2015’s Straight Outta Compton, in which the artist appeared played by Play Dirty’s LaKeith Stanfield, Brewer clarified that his film will be a “different interpretation” of Dogg’s life, but still will “definitely have a lot of the connections” to the previous film.

Praising Snoop Dogg as having “a great story,” particularly “in his early life when he was 19,” Brewer said his biopic is “really going to dive into” that area of its central figure’s life.

The director also confirmed that Outer Banks alum J.D., who was cast as Dogg days after Brewer’s hiring, is actively preparing to become the musical artist: “I was just talking with him the other day. I think you’re going to be really surprised with some of the stories that Snoop hasn’t told anybody.”

With Brewer also indicating that the Snoop Dogg biopic will be more focused on his younger life than later stardom, the film will also find itself tackling some of the artist’s more challenging years. Both prior to breaking out as a rapper and after the fact, Dogg was caught up in a variety of legal issues, including a murder investigation that he was later acquitted of, which he said at the time led to his moving away from a gang-driven lifestyle. Considering some biopics see backlash for going the safer route, it sounds as though Dogg’s desire for reality will make his a refreshing one.

Snoop’s time with Death Row Records was also the start of his music career, it’s understandable that there would be some overlap between Straight Outta Compton’s story and Brewer’s biopic, especially since Universal Pictures is behind both films. However, with the director confirming that there will be a different interpretation of it, it seems unlikely that any stars from the 2015 movie will reprise their roles, as Brewer will likely look for new actors to play Dre, Knight and others.

Movies from NBCUniversal, Sony, Amazon, 20th Century and Apple recently nabbed tens of millions of dollars in tax credits to shoot in California as the state unveiled incentives for 28 projects on Wednesday.

Leading this round was the untitled Universal Pictures Snoop Dogg biopic from the Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer, which received more than $17 million in tax credits from the California Film Commission’s program. Outer Banks actor Jonathan Daviss will portray Snoop in the lead role for a project that has a logline tracing the rapper’s path to fame.

“Big love to the California Film Commission and Gov. Newsom for holdin’ it down with that tax credit,” said Snoop. “California raised me, inspired me, and now helpin’ bring this biopic to life in 2026.” The movie is set to shoot for 50 days, employing 84 cast members and 190 crew members and hundreds more background actors and is estimated to spend $48.3 million in the state while in production.