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Tyler Perry Studios and DeVon Franklin have set the cast and director of their first faith-based film for Netflix, under their deal with the streamer revealed in May.

R&b stars Serayah (Empire), Tyler Lepley (Harlem), Phylicia Rashad (The Gilded Age), Walnette Santiago (Doom Patrol), Nijah Brenea (Kold x Windy), James Lee Thomas (One Spoon of Chocolate), Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Jermaine Dupri (Genius: Aretha) and Lecrae Moore. Alanna Brown (Trees of Peace) will take on directing duties.

From writers Michael Elliot (Brown Sugar) and Cory Tynan (Play’d), R&b is a modern-day retelling of the story of Ruth and Boaz, a love story from the Bible. Set in Tennessee, the film tells the story of a young woman who escapes the Atlanta music scene to care for an elderly widowed woman and in the process finds the love of her life and gains the mother she never had.

DeVon...

Netflix has found its Ruth and Boaz.

Serayah, Tyler Lepley and Phylicia Rashad are set to lead the ensemble cast of “R&b,” the first film out of the streaming giant’s creative partnership to produce faith-based films with DeVon Franklin and Tyler Perry Studios.

Alanna Brown will direct the modern-day retelling of the iconic biblical love story following Ruth and Boaz. Set in Tennessee, “R&b” is about a young woman who escapes the Atlanta music scene to care for an elderly widowed woman, and in the process finds the love of her life and gains the mother she never had.

Michael Elliot (“Brown Sugar”) and Cory Tynan (“Play’d”) penned the script for the project, which will be produced by Franklin and Perry. Angi Bones, Tony L. Strickland and Bart Lipton executive produce.

Walnette Santiago, Nijah Brenea, James Lee Thomas, Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Jermaine Dupri and Lecrae Moore round out the cast.

Exclusive: Michael Harney (Orange is the New Black) has been cast in Prime Video’s The Better Sister starring Jessica Beal and Elizabeth Banks.

Based on the novel by Alafair Burke, The Better Sister meditates on the terrible things that drive sisters apart and ultimately bring them back together. Biel leads the cast as Chloe, who moves through the world with her handsome lawyer husband Adam and teenage son Ethan by her side while her estranged sister Nicky (Banks) struggles to stay clean and hustles to make ends meet. When Adam is brutally murdered, the prime suspect sends shockwaves through the family, laying bare long-buried secrets.

In a recurring role, Harney will portray Doorman Arty, a queens born, loyal doorman to Chloe’s building.

The series also stars Lorraine Toussaint, Corey Stoll, Bobby Naderi, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Kim Dickens, Gabriel Sloyer, Matthew Modine and Gloria Reuben. Olivia Milch (Ocean’s 8...

Exclusive: Jason Isbell joins actors Shameik Moore and Paris Jackson on One Spoon of Chocolate from original screenplay directed amnd written by RZA who is producing the feature with producer Paul Hall (White Men Can’t Jump and Shaft), executive producers Talani Diggs, Mitchell Divine Diggs, and Joe Genier (Bigger).

In addition Jason Isbell, Isaiah Hill (Swagger) and James Lee Thomas (Bad Boys: Ride or Die) join Shameik Moore and Paris Jackson with actors Rj Cyler (The Harder They Fall), Harry Goodwins (The Gentlemen), Johnell Young (Wu-Tang: An American Saga), Michael Harney (Iron Claw), Rockmond Dunbar (911 and Prison Break), E’myri Crutchfield (Dark Harvest and Fargo), and Blair Underwood (Origin) have joined the cast.

The film follows an ex-military convict who leaves the city for a small town where he ends up finding love, danger and more trouble than he can handle.

Jason Isbell is...