Ashanti is ready to grin and (build-a-)bear it!
The 40-year-old part-Dominican American Grammy-winning singer and actress will star alongside digital star Tessa Brooks in Honey Girls from Build-A-Bear Entertainment.
The live-action project is based on Build-A-Bear’s Honey Girls toy line.
In addition to Ashanti, who appeared in John Tucker Must Die, will star alongside Aliyah Mastin, Ava Grace, and Frankie McNellis, all playing the titular Honey Girls.
Music video director Trey Fanjoy makes her feature film directorial debut based off a screenplay by Mike Mariano and Cindy McCreery.
Honey Girls will include Julia Michels, another Grammy winner, as Music Supervisor. Lady Gaga collaborator Mark Nilan, Jr., who won a Grammy in 2020 for his work on the soundtrack to A Star Is Born, writes original songs.
Ashanti will star as global pop-star Fancy G, the host of a talent competition that seeks to discover the next great solo artist. Three young musicians sign up for it but quickly discover that they are “better together” — a reference to the song “Everything Is Better” written for the Honey Girls toy line. They form a secret band called Honey Girls and, with an immediate viral mega hit on their hands, perform in disguise to avoid elimination by Fancy G. In the end, the competitors must decide what is more important — fame or friendship.
“The Honey Girls story uses the power of music as a catalyst to both encourage the celebration of individuality while recognizing that we can also be ‘better together,’ wrapped in a fun girl-empowerment story of discovery,” Sharon Price John, President and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., said in a statement.
Ashanti was last seen on screen on an episode of the CW‘s Dynasty on season 3, and she also starred in the Lifetime movie A Christmas Winter Song. Aside from her music, which includes her self-titled award-winning, chart-topping album and her most recent single drop “2:35 (I Want You),” Ashanti is also known for roles in Coach Carter, Resident Evil Extinction, and The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz.
Honey Girls is produced through Foundation Media Partners with Patrick Hughes serving as producer. John is also acting as executive producer.
The film was acquired by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and is expected to release this fall.
