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Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Vivica A. Fox starred in a 1996 heist thriller called Set It Off, and it's currently number one on Tubi. Directed by F. Gary Gray, the film was released in November 1996 and was a box office hit, earning nearly $41.2 million at the global box office on a production budget of $9 million. It currently has a 70% critical rating and 89% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Set It Off's official plot reads:

Desperation drives four inner-city women to bank robbery in Los Angeles, then they start mistrusting each other.

The film follows a group of friends working together at a janitorial service after Frankie (Fox) loses her job as a bank teller. Joining her are Cleo (Queen Latifah), Stony (Pinkett Smith), and Tisean "T.T." (Kimberly Elise). The friends decide to rob banks and are successful at first, but soon they begin to mistrust each other while...

As Syreeta Singleton continues a successful theatrical run for her comedy two-hander “One of Them Days,” she gave TheWrap an update on her upcoming reboot of the 1996 crime-action film “Set It Off.”

“It’s going to be a good one. It’s something that we were very careful about, because it’s ‘Set It Off,’ and we want to make sure we do it right. I feel like it’s a story that people are going to be really, really excited about,” Singleton explained. “We’ve infused a lot of humor into it in an organic way. But it was like, when you get four Black women together, how you not gon’ laugh? Even in the middle of robbing some s–t.”

Back in 2019, Issa Rae — who produced “One of Them Days” under her Hoorae Media and ColorCreative banners — announced plans to remake the film with a reimagined framework. Singleton...

Exclusive: Annie Gonzalez is making her official debut as Jenni Rivera, the legendary Regional Mexican singer known adoringly by her fans as La Diva de la Banda, in the official trailer for the ViX Original Film, Jenni (above). The biopic will premiere via the TelevisaUnivision streamer and select theaters in the U.S. and Mexico on December 6.

From a screenplay by Shane McKenzie and Kate Lanier, Jenni follows Rivera’s journey from the beginning of her career in her hometown of Long Beach, California, to her meteoric rise in the music industry up to the last days before her tragic and unexpected death in a 2012 plane crash at the age of 43.

The project also tackles the struggles she endured in her personal life and how she persevered and found strength from within. This story of resilience and bravery shows the building blocks of what made Jenni Rivera who she was...

Quick Links What Is What's Love Got To Do With It About? How Did Angela Bassett Become Involved With the Project? Why Was the Movie So Challenging? Angela Bassett starred in the challenging role of Tina Turner in the biopic with gripping performances. Despite difficulties, the film was a commercial hit, grossing $39 million against a $15 million budget. Portraying a real-life character, especially one who watches on set, added extra pressure for Bassett.

One of the most underrated talents of her generation, Angela Bassett is a terrific actor, director, and producer who radiates elegance and sophistication. The two-time Oscar nominee and winner of two Golden Globes began her career in 1985, starring in such seminal movies as John Singleton's Boyz n The Hood and Spike Lee's Malcolm X in the early '90s. One year after starring in the latter, Bassett took on her most challenging role in the Tina...

All that glitters certainly isn’t gold, as “Glitter” cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson knows all too well. During a recent interview, Simpson told IndieWire that the newfound cult fandom around Mariah Carey’s 2001 film debut is staggering, as “Glitter” is “one of the 10 worst movies.” The “Center Stage” and “Under the Tuscan Sun” director of photography looked back on the feature that was released September 21, 2001 — after its soundtrack came out on 9/11.

In the film, Carey stars as a young singer who overcomes an abusive childhood to reach stardom alongside a toxic boyfriend. “Glitter” was directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall and cleared $5.3 million at the global box office against a $22 million budget. Carey developed the story behind “Glitter” with “What’s Love Got to Do with It” screenwriter Kate Lanier and playwright Cheryl L. West. Padma Lakshmi, Eric Benét, Max Bessley, Terence Howard, and Da Brat also starred.

In November 2018, a Carey fan-led hashtag...

“A great man doesn’t seek to lead; he’s called to it.”

This is the line spoken by Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) to his son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) in “Dune,” Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic science-fiction novel. But it also underscores the remarkable journey that Mary Parent, vice chairman of Worldwide Production for Legendary and one of the film’s producers, took to become one of the most successful and respected executives in Hollywood.

As its Oct. 22 release in the U.S. increases the gross of her projects to $4.7 billion, “Dune” marks her 16th credit as a theatrical film producer, culminating an eight-year journey for Parent, whom Variety is saluting as a billion-dollar producer, to bring the adaptation to the big screen, and more than 25 years of a career marked by adventuresome creativity, business savvy and a tenacious dedication to marrying the two.

“People have always fascinated me,...

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...

An authorized biopic of the late singer Jenni Rivera is in the works, seven years after she died in a plane crash at the age of 43.

The life rights deal was announced Tuesday with an agreement between Jenni Rivera Enterprises and producers Javier Chapa and Simon Wise of Mucho Mas Media and Donald De Line of De Line Pictures. The film will be written by Kate Lanier, who wrote one of Rivera’s favorite films, “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”

The singer’s sister, Rosie Rivera, the head of Jenni Rivera Enterprises, told Variety that she needed time to find the right partners for the project — along with giving her sister’s five children enough time to adjust to the loss of their mother.

“My sister dreamt of a biopic of her life for many years,” she added. “We are thrilled it will come to fruition. We...

Producers secure life rights to pioneering multi-hyphenate.

Mucho Mas Media and Donald De Line’s De Line Pictures are partnering on a biopic of the renowned Mexican-American singer-songwriter, actor and activist Jenni Rivera.

Javier Chapa and Simon Wise of Mucho Mas Media and De Line have secured life rights from Jenni Rivera Enterprises to the late celebrity, whose flair for regional Mexican music, in particular the male-dominated music genre Banda Ranchera style and pop music, earned her a widespread following among Spanish-speaking and Us fans.

The California-born Latin Grammy nominee was 43 and according to Billboard the most successful woman on...

Jenni Rivera, the famed Mexican American singer-songwriter, is the latest musician to get the biopic treatment.

Kate Lanier, the writer behind the Angela Bassett-starring Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It, will pen the screenplay.

The untitled project will track Rivera's rise from her native Long Beach, Calif., her mother having crossed the border on foot while pregnant with Jenni, to the top of the Billboard Latin charts. The feature will also cover her philanthropic endeavors, including being a spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence that openly talked about her own ...

Jenni Rivera, the famed Mexican American singer-songwriter, is the latest musician to get the biopic treatment.

Kate Lanier, the writer behind the Angela Bassett-starring Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It, will pen the screenplay.

The untitled project will track Rivera's rise from her native Long Beach, Calif., her mother having crossed the border on foot while pregnant with Jenni, to the top of the Billboard Latin charts. The feature will also cover her philanthropic endeavors, including being a spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence that openly talked about her own ...

A Man ApartIn October 2016, Vin Diesel revealed that the director of The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the multi-billion dollar series of films, would be none other than F. Gary Gray. To those familiar with his work, it seemed like a natural fit. Gray has worked in Hollywood for over twenty years and is one of the most financially successful black directors in history. Coming off of the massive success of Straight Outta Compton (his second film to gross over $100 million dollars at the domestic box office, after 2003’s The Italian Job), Gray seemed like the ideal choice for the latest Fast and Furious installment, where he could return to his cinematic trademarks: guns, heists, fast cars and racially diverse ensembles. These elements were staples of Gray’s work even before his first feature in 1995. Gray, a South Central Los Angeles native, began as a cameraman for Bet and Fox,...

Here are 2 new promos for VH1's Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story, which stars Keke Palmer as Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, Drew Sidora as Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Lil' Mama as the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Evan Ross plays Dallas Austin, and Donny Boaz is TLC's manager Bill Diggins. Carl Anthony Payne II is playing Antonio 'L.A.' Reid, and Rochelle Aytes is cast as Perri 'Pebbles' Reid. Charles Stone III (Drumline, Paid in Full, Mr. 3000) directs, from a script penned by screenwriter Kate Lanier (What’s...

"They either had to pivot and drive forward, or their career would be over." TLC's longtime manager Bill Diggins is referring to the catalyst of the group's comeback. The moment in question: Tionnne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas relaying their story, in their own words, to screenwriter Kate Lanier (Glitter, Beauty Shop). That moment would grow into a VH1 biopic and a 20th anniversary album, backed by a massive publicity push from the Viacom-owned network and L.A. Reid's Epic Records. Photos: VMAs 2013: Best and Worst Dressed "I had to be very frank with them about

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Here’s your first real look at VH1‘s biopic of female R&B group TLC, starring Keke Palmer as Chilli, Lil Mama as Left Eye, and Drew Sidora as T-Boz. The 2-minute CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story teaser is light on behind the scenes story but highlights some painstaking reenactments of the group’s most totally ’90s moments and music videos, including their iconic “Waterfalls” video. Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, the two surviving members of TLC who also consulted on and exec produced the pic, announced they’ve re-signed with La Reid and Epic Records for the October 15 release of a new album of greatest hits and new songs, including the Ne-Yo penned “Meant To Be” which appears in the film. The TLC blitz continues as Lil Mama joins T-Boz and Chilli at this week’s Mixtape Festival performing in place of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, who died in a 2002 crash.

They look just like it was the early 1990s. VH1 today put out the first photo from its upcoming biopic Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story. Left to right, there’s Drew Sidora as Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Keke Palmer as Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, and Lil’ Mama as Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in the upcoming TV movie about the R&B/hip-hop/pop group. Drumline’s Charles Stone III is directing from a screenplay by What’s Love Got To Do With It’s Kate Lanier. The film started production in March in Atlanta where Chilli, Left Eye and T-Boz started their rise to multi-platinum fame as one of the most successful musical trios of all time. The two surviving members of the group, Chilli and T-Boz, serve as consultants and executive producers on the movie. The pic is scheduled to come out toward the end of the year.

Evan Ross has been cast as Dallas Austin, in VH1's biopic on pop/hip hop/R&B group TLC, which should have started shooting, or will soon start. Fans of the group will recall that Dallas Austin produced several TLC tracks, and who also romanced Chilli. Meanwhile, Donny Boaz will play TLC's manager Bill Diggins. In the telepic, Keke Palmer is Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, Drew Sidora is Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and and Lil' Mama is playing the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Charles Stone III (Drumline, Paid in Full, Mr. 3000) is directing, from a script penned by screenwriter Kate Lanier (What’s Love Got...

Confirming what we've already reported, but adding a couple of facts that we didn't know before - specifically, the film, previously untitled, will be called Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story; and secondly, Charles Stone III (Drumline, Paid in Full, Mr. 3000) is set to direct the biopic, which is penned by screenwriter Kate Lanier (What’s Love Got To Do With It, Set it Off, Beauty Shop). The film is slated to begin shooting next month in Atlanta. The rest of the story, specifically, casting of the 3 leads (which we already reported on), follows below via press release from VH1.... VH1 “Diggin’ On” A Cast For The Network’S Upcoming Biopic,...

VH1's upcoming TLC bio-pic "Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story" has officially unveiled its cast: Keke Palmer ("True Jackson VP") as Chilli, Lil Mama ("America's Best Dance Crew") as Left Eye and Drew Sidora ("Step Up") as T-Boz.

"Drumline" director Charles Stone III is directing a script by "What's Love Got to Do With It" writer Kate Lanier. Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas will serve as consultants on the film, which begins shooting in Atlanta next month.

Finding actresses to play the hip-hop icons has not been without controversy, as some fans are very particular about who is worthy to play the roles.

As news of the casting leaked, Palmer has already responded to criticism via Twitter including the following series of Tweets:

People need to realize hat movies aren't casted by people looking like who they're playing. They're casted by who can do the role.

--...

Keke Palmer (Akeela & The Bee), Lil Mama (America’s Best Dance Crew) and Drew Sidora (Step Up) are set to star in Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story, VH1‘s biopic of R&B/hip-hop/pop group TLC. Palmer will portray Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, Lil Mama will take on the role of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and Sidora will play Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins in the full-length TV movie about the trio’s lives and careers. Charles Stone III (Drumline) is directing from a script by Kate Lanier (What’s Love Got To Do With It). The film is slated to begin shooting next month in Atlanta where Chilli, Left Eye and T-Boz started their rise to fame. The two surviving members of the group, Chilli and T-Boz, serve as consultants and executive producers. “TLC are truly music pioneers and this movie is a fantastic way to expand our scripted push...

An update on VH1's in-development biopic on pop/hip hop/R&B group TLC, which the network announced, last November, would begin shooting in early 2013, with casting underway at the time. From a VH1 press release, screenwriter Kate Lanier (What’s Love Got To Do With It, Set it Off, Beauty Shop) penned the screenplay for the film, which is currently untitled (Untitled TLC Biopic), and it said that Chilli and T-Boz had signed on as consultants and executive producers of the movie, along with Bill Diggins and Maggie Malina, as well as Alexander Motlagh for Pop Films. Thanks to a tip from reader Cordell, in the red carpet...

You might recall last December's news from VH1, announcing that the network was developing a biopic on pop/ hip hop/ R&B group TLC. Skip ahead about a year later, to tonight's news that the project is still very much alive, and, in fact, is set to begin shooting in early 2013, with casting underway. From a VH1 press release, screenwriter Kate Lanier (What’s Love Got To Do With It, Set it Off, Beauty Shop) has penned the screenplay for the film, which is currently untitled, and it's said that Chilli and T-Boz have signed on as consultants and executive producers of the movie, along with Bill Diggins and Maggie Malina, as well as...

It's been exactly 10 years since TLC's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes died tragically in a car accident -- and for the remaining members of the group, it's still a date marked by sadness."Both Chilli and T-Boz say they don't consider the date of Lisa's passing a celebration," a rep for Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins tells toofab."When a family member dies no one is expected to celebrate the day of their death," the rep adds. "Lisa was a sister to both Chilli and T-Boz and she will forever be missed. Lisa's legacy lives on through TLC."In another statement, Chilli adds "You never get over losing a family member. We love her and we miss her and that isn’t ever going to change.”While today is the 10th anniversary of Lisa's death, 2012 also marks the 20th anniversary of the group -- and T-Boz and Chilli have big plans in store.

VH1 is getting into the movie business, announcing a series of biopics about the lives of musicians and "pop culture icons." First up will be a film about the platinum-selling R&B trio TLC.

Kate Lanier, who penned the script for the Tina Turner bio "What's Love Got to Do With It," has signed on to write the TLC story. The group's two surviving members, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, are among the project's executive producers.

"We now know that viewers will come to VH1 for quality scripted projects," says Jeff Olde, VH1's head of original programming. "We're eager to expand on that success with this biopic franchise that will allow us to explore our music, pop culture, and authentic storytelling strengths in yet another format."

There's no word yet on when the TLC movie will premiere or what other subjects VH1 is planning to cover in the franchise.

VH1 is the latest basic cable network to get into the TV movie business this year, following similar forays by TNT, Cmt, Bet and, to some extent, USA Network. VH1 is planning a series of biopics about musicians and pop culture icons. First off is a movie about the 1990s R&B/hip-hop/pop trio TLC. The two surviving members of the group, Chilli and Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, will serve as consultants and executive produce with Bill Diggins and Maggie Malina. Kate Lanier (What’s Love Got To Do With It) has signed on to write the movie. VH1 ventured into scripted programming earlier this year with the series Single Ladies, which was kicked off by a two-hour movie.

Beauty Shop plays like a pilot for a TV sitcom. It sets up enough story threads for an entire season yet nothing much actually happens during the 105-minute running time. Queen Latifah anchors the comedy, so the movie reflects her personality: Its good-natured, occasionally ribald humor carries you along even when the story flags. This spinoff from the popular Barbershop movies will appeal primarily to black audiences, but the triumvirate of Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell and Mena Suvari should help attract a sizable white female crowd for MGM as well.

One can sum up the story fairly succinctly: Outraged over her boss' criticism and demands, Queen Latifah's Gina Norris -- a character introduced in Barbershop 2 -- quits a hair-styling job at an ultraposh Atlanta salon, secures a tiny loan to buy a rundown beauty shop of her own, rehabs the place and suffers a few mildly amusing ups and downs as she gets into business for herself. And that is about it.

As with the Barbershop series, the setting provides a nifty location for characters to come and go while exchanging opinions on everything from their sex lives to their lifestyles. Kate Lanier and Norman Vance Jr.'s screenplay hits all the obvious marks: It does the is-he-gay-or-straight thing and the black-vs.-white attitude thing. What it doesn't do is the story thing.

A nominal conflict comes in attempts to sabotage Gina's business by her former boss, Jorge (Kevin Bacon in a flamboyant, open shirt, long, droopy hair with blond highlights and vague Mittel Europa accent). The rest of the movie is given over to a cast of eccentric characters firing verbal missiles at each other.

Gina's crew includes a spirited Alfre Woodard as Miss Josephine, so deep into black culture that she frequently bursts into quotes from Maya Angelou. Golden Brooks plays sassy-mouthed Chanel, who weighs in with an opinion whether anyone wants to hear it or not. Silverstone's Lynn is white and country, which makes it doubly difficult to fit into the otherwise all-black beauty shop. Lord knows she tries, but her every word and gesture screams "white."

Sherri Sheperd's Ida is seven months pregnant, but that puts no damper on her libido or imagination. Keshia Knight Pulliam is Darnelle, Gina Wild's and rebellious sister-in-law, who lets her hormones overrule her sense. Gina's daughter Vanessa, played by Paige Hurd, loves piano playing, so she takes a shine to the upstairs electrician, Joe (Djimon Hounsou), who plays a pretty mean piano himself. She is not, however, the only female in the beauty parlor who takes a shine to Joe.

Among Jorge's clients who switch to Gina's is Suvari's Joanne, a perky, shallow socialite with what turns out to be a very mean streak. MacDowell's Terri is another socialite, whose change in salons triggers such major changes in her life as a newly discovered fondness for soul food and the ability to see the truth about her tattered marriage.

Director Bille Woodruff (Honey) keeps things moving at a steady pace, but he does hit empty air pockets where even a sharp pace can't disguise the lack of dramatic momentum. All tech credits are pro, though production values do reflect the film's modest budget.

BEAUTY SHOP

MGM

State Street Pictures/Mandeville Films/Flavor Unit Films

Credits:

Director: Bille Woodruff

Screenwriters: Kate Lanier, Norman Vance Jr.

Story by: Elizabeth Hunter

Producers: David Hoberman, Robert Teitel, George Tillman Jr., Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere

Executive producers: Todd Lieberman, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez

Director of photography: Theo van de Sande

Production designer: Jon Gary Steele

Music: Christopher Young

Co-producer: Louise Rosner

Costumes: Sharen Davis

Editor: Michael Jablow

Cast:

Gina Norris: Queen Latifah

Lynn: Alicia Silverstone

Terri Green: Andie MacDowell

Miss Josephine: Alfre Woodard

Joanne: Mena Suvari

Jorge: Kevin Bacon

Joe: Djimon Hounsou

Mrs. Towner: Della Reese

MPAA rating PG-13

Running time -- 105 minutes...

The "Beauty Shop" is getting crowded. Wilmer Valderrama and Golden Brooks have signed on for beauty duties for MGM and helmer Bille Woodruff. Shooting is under way on the Queen Latifah starrer. Valderrama will play a customer in the salon in a cameo role, with Brooks playing the larger role of a stylist named Chanel. Kevin Bacon, Andie MacDowell, Alicia Silverstone, Djimon Hounsou, Mena Suvari, Alfre Woodard, Bryce Wilson and Lil' JJ also star. Woodruff directs from a script by Kate Lanier, Norm Vance and Audrey Wells. "Shop" is produced by Queen Latifah, her producing partner Shakim Compere, Mandeville's David Hoberman and State Street partners Robert Teitel and George Tillman. Mandeville president of production Todd Lieberman and CubeVision's Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez are executive producing. Elizabeth Cantillon, Erik Baiers and DeVon Franklin are overseeing for MGM. Valderrama is repped by UTA and manager Glenn Rigberg. Brooks, a star of UPN's "Girlfriends", is repped by Nine Yards Entertainment and attorney Jeff Bernstein.

Andie MacDowell, Alfre Woodard and Bryce Wilson are joining the cast of MGM's Queen Latifah comedy Beauty Shop. MacDowell will play a conservative Southern socialite who goes through a rebirth when she follows Queen Latifah's character from her fancy hairdressers, run by Jorge (Kevin Bacon), to her new salon. Woodard is set to play Miss Josephine, the shop's Afrocentric stylist, who spouts Maya Angelou poetry. Wilson, meanwhile, will play James, a con/truck driver turned hairstylist. Nobody can figure out whether he is the ultimate metrosexual or actually gay. Alicia Silverstone, Djimon Hounsou, Mena Suvari and Lil' JJ round out the cast of the Barbershop spinoff. Bille Woodruff directs from a script by Kate Lanier, Norm Vance and Audrey Wells. Beauty Shop is being produced by Queen Latifah, her producing partner Shakim Compere, Mandeville's David Hoberman and State Street partners Robert Teitel and George Tillman. Mandeville president of production Todd Lieberman and CubeVision's Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez are executive producing. Elizabeth Cantillon, Erik Baiers and DeVon Franklin are overseeing for the studio. MacDowell next appears in The Last Sign from director Douglas Law. Woodard's upcoming features include The Forgotten with Julianne Moore. MacDowell is repped by ICM. Woodard is repped by WMA. Wilson is repped by Anonymous Content.

New Line Cinema is tuning up the Women's Maintenance Club, a comedy to be penned by What's Love Got to Do With It writer Kate Lanier and produced by Hart Sharp Entertainment. The project is based on the lives of a group of women in Queens, N.Y., who are fed up with waiting for the men in their lives to fix up their broken-down houses and decide to band together to create a Women's Maintenance Club. The newly empowered women learn they are capable of not only repairing broken doors and sinks but also that they had the power to mend their damaged lives. John Hart, Jeff Sharp and Robert Kessel of Hart Sharp Entertainment (Nicholas Nickleby) will produce, while New Line production exec Lynn Harris will oversee for the studio. Women's Club reunites Lanier with New Line, for whom she penned the 1996 actioner Set It Off. Her other credits include Glitter, The Mod Squad and the upcoming Universal Pictures drama Honey. Lanier is repped by the Broder, Kurland, Webb, Uffner agency and attorney Jared Levin and manager Doug Chapin. Attorney George Sheanshang negotiated on behalf of Hart Sharp Entertainment.

Mariah Carey allowed a screenwriter follow her for two years - in order to make her movie debut in All That Glitters realistic. The film tells the tale of a singer trying to make it in the music world - a story very similar to Carey's own modest start. But screenwriter Kate Lanier says the film isn't as realistic as Carey's own tale - because people wouldn't find the truth believable. She says, "Her story, you wouldn't believe it if we made it into a movie. We had to come up with something that was more believable." Lanier spent two years shadowing Mariah across the world, from the recording studio to nightclubs. Lanier continues, "She knew she wanted a movie where her character was a singer, but she didn't want it to be sappy. She wanted it to have depth. She wanted a street, gritty feeling, an underdog story." Lanier says she hopes people will be able to understand Carey the superstar better after watching the film. She explains, "A lot of her videos are very stylized, and they don't show the realness of who she is the way her role in this movie will."...

When it came time to give "The Mod Squad" the big-screen treatment, there were a few options.

The movie version could be (a) set in the late 1960s counterculture like the TV series; (b) contemporized with a late 1990s spin; or (c) given the satirical "Austin Powers" fish-out-of-water treatment with, everybody's favorite hippie cops suddenly finding themselves having to cope on the cusp of a new millennium.

As it turned out, the filmmakers went with (b), as in boring, turning out a dull, stone-faced, listless approximation of the original minus the Nehru collars, the afros, the groovy music and the other happening touches that gave the otherwise generic crime series its pop flavor.

Stripped of its spirit and weighted down with countless scenes of mind-numbing introspection, this "Mod Squad" will likely have to amend its old "no badges, no guns" credo with the words "no audience."

Taking over where Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III and Peggy Lipton left off, Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps and Claire Danes are Pete, Linc and Julie, respectively, a trio of juvies on probation who are recruited by fatherly Capt. Adam Greer (Dennis Farina) to infiltrate the seedy Southern California drug and crime scene.

Pete, as before, is the troubled rich kid who was booted out of his Beverly Hills home and subsequently nabbed for breaking and entering. Linc, now from the 'hood (formerly the ghetto), has been charged with arson; while reformed drug addict Julie (once the runaway daughter of a San Francisco hooker) was brought in for assault.

Their assignment is to work undercover in the kind of establishments where the scourge of society preys on the impressionable young. But when a cache of drugs goes AWOL from the police lock-up and Capt. Greer turns up dead, the kids suddenly have to fend for themselves.

The picture's corrupt cop plot line (credited writers include director Scott Silver & Stephen Kay and Kate Lanier) is so tired and uninspired that even the characters comment on it. Both script and direction cry out for a hefty shot of adrenalin.

And while Danes, Ribisi and Epps are all proven, capable actors, here they're all hopelessly unconvincing as streetwise delinquents. They might as well be doing a production of "The Mod Squad: The School Play".

Certainly their written characters, as such, aren't much help. Although Ribisi's Pete has been outfitted with a short fuse that provides a little comic relief, both Danes' Julie and particularly Epps' Linc have been given precious little in the way of defining personalities.

The supporting players, including Farina, Josh Brolin as a potential flame from Julie's past and Richard Jenkins as an adversarial detective, find themselves in the same, uncharted boat. Only Michael Lerner gets to have a little fun as an oddball, drug-dealing music talent manager.:

At least "The Mod Squad" gets the desired visual tone right thanks to Ellen Kuras' ("Swoon") edgy camerawork; while the audio end is given a jittery alterno-techno-hip hop hybrid courtesy of composer BC Smith and an eclectic song mix that includes contributions from Busta Rhymes, Bjork, Curtis Mayfield and the Crash Test Dummies.

THE MOD SQUAD

MGM

Executive producers: Aaron Spelling, David Ladd

Based on characters created by: Buddy Ruskin

Director: Scott Silver

Producers: Men Myron, Alan Riche, Tony Ludwig

Screenwriters: Stephen Kay & Scott Silver and Kate Lanier

Director of photography: Ellen Kuras

Production designer: Patrick Sherman

Editor: Dorian Harris

Costume designer: Arianne Phillips

Music: BC Smith

Music supervisor: Randy Gerston

Casting: Christine Sheaks

Color/stereo

Cast:

Julie: Claire Danes

Linc: Omar Epps

Pete: Giovanni Ribisi

Capt. Adam Greer: Dennis Farina

Billy Waites: Josh Brolin

Det. Briggs: Steve Harris

Det. Robert Mothershed: Richard Jenkins

Howard: Michael Lerner

Running time -- 94 minutes

MPAA rating: R...