Alicia Keys to play Legendary Whitney Houston in Lionsgate film?

Sept. 1, 2010 - PRLog -- Setp. 1st, 2010/Press Release---Mike Levine and Rahel Thorsten of Atlantic Library confirm that Rob McEntegart, Vice President of Lion's Gate Studiosand film producer Alex Barkaloff are hoping to cast superstar Alicia Keys in a big screen adaptation of Kola Boof's sizzling hip hop novel, "Virgins In the Beehive" (Atlantic Library).  

It is also noted that rapper Nicki Minaj may be doing a screen test for the role.

Insiders are already claiming that Alicia Keys or Ms. Minaj would essentially be playing  the role of music legend Whitney Houston. But author of "Virgins In the Beehive" Kola Boof vehemently denies that JennaSet Jones, the drug addicted and later triumphant character from her book, is based on the iconic Ms. Houston.

For legal reasons, the book was held up for years as all manner of superstar from Sean Puffy Combs to Rihanna and Beyonce were purported to be characters in the sinful Hollywood novel.

"People who've read 'Virgins In the Beehive' insist that it's about Whitney Houston and Beyonce, but I think that's because the characters are Black" says editor Rahel Thorsten. "The book could just as well be about Judy Garland, John Belushi and Courtney Love."

Dillard Spelman, a N.Y. University critic who's read the book says that it paints Whitney Houston in a very positive light.

"The book is obviously designed to make people sympathize with Whitney Houston.  Kola Boof has taken the old formula of 'Valley of the Dolls' and transformed it into a breathtakingly new age hip hop women's novel. It's a very daring and glamorous book but it has a lot to say about society and about greed and excess.  Boof claims that Kurt Cobain was murdered in the book, which is quite interesting."

Atlantic Library has learned that reps at Lion's Gate have been contacted by agents representing Nicki Minaj, Kelly Rowland, Jonelle Monae and Bow Wow wanting to take prominent roles should "Virgins In the Beehive" be made into a film.

"I definitely wrote parts in this film for Michael Jai White or Idris Elba as Steven Frame and they have to cast Adam Rodriguez as Ernesto Fox," says Kola Boof. "DJ Snow Trojan is the super sexy white guy in the book and they could get Channing Tatum to play him, I guess."

VIRGINS IN THE BEEHIVE is published by Atlantic Library.