Mary J. Blige to Star in Horror-Thriller ‘Body Cam’ for Paramount

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Mudbound” star Mary J. Blige has come on board in a leading role in “Body Cam,” a horror-thriller set up at Paramount.

Variety first reported on March 21 that Malik Vitthal had been tapped to direct “” for Paramount Players. The project, produced by Matt Kaplan, was the first major purchase for Paramount Players chief Brian Robbins last year.

Nick McCarthy and John Ridley have performed rewrites of the spec script originally penned by Richmond Riedel. Described as “Get Out” meets “End of Watch,” the story follows several LAPD officers who are haunted by a malevolent spirit that is tied to the murder of a black youth at the hands of two white cops — all of which was caught on a body cam video that was destroyed in a cover-up.

Blige will portray a police officer in “Body Cam” who begins seeing visions and starts to investigate the cover-up.

Blige started her musical career in the early 1990s, won nine Grammy Awards and sold an estimated 75 million records. She had starred in Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” and Tom Cruise’s “Rock of Ages,” then broke out in last year’s “Mudbound,” receiving Oscar nominations for best supporting actress and in the original song category for “Mighty River.”

Blige is also starring in Netflix’s series “The Umbrella Academy.” She is repped by APA.