In the name of reboots and reliving the glory of all things 90s, F. Gary Gray’s hit movie Set It Off is the next blast from the past to find a home this year.
Playwright Je’Caryous Johnson will adapt the reel for a Broadway format, according to Power 93.7 WBLK. Johnson’s theatrical resume includes Married But Single and another cult classic, Two Can Play That Game.
Rapper/Dish Nation co-host Da Brat announced the news via Instagram that she’s stepping into Queen Latifah’s impactful role of Cleopatra “Cleo” Sims, and starring alongside singers Letoya Luckett and Demetria McKinney, and actress Kyla Pratt.
Set in Los Angeles, the movie focuses on four childhood friends who turn from downtrodden providers to nearly unstoppable bank robbers. The complex roles added to the trajectory of Jada Pinkett-Smith, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise, and Queen Latifah’s careers, specifically. The latter shared with InStyle that she had a talk with her siblings to explain why she signed on to play a gay character.
“When I got the role of amateur bank robber ‘Cleo Sims’ in Set It Off, I sat down with my younger siblings and told them, ‘Listen, I’m playing a gay character,'” Latifah said. “Your classmates might tease you or say negative things about it. But I’m doing it because I believe I can bring positive attention to the gay African-American community, and I believe that I can do a great job as an actor. They understood, and when those things inevitably happened in school, they were OK with it.”
Set It Off joins the likes of Love Jones, another 90s movie-turned-play.