Snoop Dogg will star in The Legend of Fillmore Slim, an upcoming about the blues singer and guitarist—who was also a well-known pimp.
The Doggfather will headline as Slim himself, Ames Universal and SRI Entertainment announced yesterday.

Fillmore Slim, real name Clarence Sims, is a renowned blues singer and guitarist who released several singles back in the '50s and supposedly dated Etta James at one point. But in the '60s and '70s, he became one of San Francisco's preeminent pimps, earning himself the nicknames "The West Coast Godfather of the Game” and “The Pope of Pimping.” He returned to music in the '90s and the new millennium, releasing several albums and touring frequently.
Hawthorne James will direct the film, Shelly Liebowitz is executive producing, and Alan Ames and Carole Parker are writing the screenplay. Sims’ daughter Rebecca first approached Ames about the making the movie. “This film will span decades,” he said, “from Slim’s emergence as a musician, to his fascination with the fast life, through his years of incarceration and his redemption.”
Pre-production is to set to start in December, with an eye on beginning shooting in March 2012.
Sims, now 77 years old, is currently touring.

(Photo: Evan Agostini/PictureGroup)