Alexandra Shipp to play Aaliyah in biopic

Los Angeles: Nickelodeon star Alexandra Shipp will portray the late R&B singer Aaliyah in a biopic after Zendaya Coleman dropped out of the project. The casting was first announced by talk show host Wendy Williams, who is also executive producing the Lifetime TV movie, reportedly. "I`m excited to exec produce the Aaliyah @lifetimetv movie w/@DebraMChase. Prod starts later this month and @AlexShipppp will play Aaliyah (sic)," she tweeted. The project, titled `Aaliyah: Princess of R&B`, will resume filming this summer with premiere later this year. The script for the biopic was based on a book, `Aaliyah: More Than a Woman`, by Christopher Farley, following Aaliyah`s journey from her debut on Star Search to her rise to her fame and her tragic death.