Lashana Lynch will play Bob Marley’s wife in a film about the life of a reggae legend.

The star of the 2021 James Bond film No Time To Die has landed the role of Rita Marley in Paramount’s as-yet-untitled biopic, Deadline reports.

He will star alongside British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who will play a Jamaican singer, songwriter and civil and social rights activist.

Its director Markus Green is also reportedly involved in the project. Green, born the year Marley died, received a Special Jury Prize for his feature debut Monsters and Men at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

According to Deadline, Rita and the Marley family have given their approval to the casting of the film, which is expected to release in 2024.

The film will not be a chronicle of Bob Marley’s entire life, but will focus on the 1970s, when the singer survived an assassination attempt in Jamaica and fled to London, where he recorded the Exodus album with hits Jamming, Three Little Birds and One Love.

In an interview with The Guardian last May, Marcus Greene said of Bob Marley: “He brought so much joy and spread messages of love and peace that are more important than ever today. But we want to show all sides of Bob, including his toughness, without hiding anything.”

Source: RES-EMI