Queen Latifah to Star In Lee Daniels’ Girl-Group Pilot

Queen Latifah and Empire co-creator, Lee Daniels are about to make beautiful music together as they collaborate on a project that was created and written by Daniels who seems to have an affinity for curating stories that rely heavily on the music genre.

The untitled pilot will focus on three young women who form a musical trio with the hopes of making it big while also battling the expected upheavals that plague ambitious minds aiming for the stars.

Atlanta will be the setting for the show and Queen Latifah will portray a woman named Carlotta who owns a neighborhood beauty salon and also knows how to carry a tune. She ends up taking on the role of mother figure to the three girls and the relationship becomes strained when she voices her disapproval over their musical aspirations.

After an exhaustive search, three lucky newcomers were cast in the lead roles. Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny, and Brittany O’Grady.

Demorest plays Star, an 18-year-old with a troubled past due to her fragmented childhood that saw her bounce from one foster home to another. Her unfortunate circumstance gives her the grit she needs to do whatever it takes to succeed – at all costs. Destiny will portray 20-year-old Alexandra, the wealthy Upper East Side Princess, who tries to downplay her privileged existence in order to fully embrace her artistic side. O’Grady completes the cast as Star’s younger sister Simone, who is still stuck in foster care and is desperately waiting for her older sister to return and rescue her.

Based on the immense popularity of Empire – there is no doubt that some of that residue will rub off on Daniels’ latest entry – and of course with the winning presence of Queen Latifah who was just honored with an Emmy nomination for her starring turn in HBO’s Bessie – the sky is definitely the limit.