Nina Simone is finally heading to the big screen, and Zoe Saldana has been cast to play her.

The Hollywood Reporter confirms the Avatar actress will portray the iconic singer in Nina, while David Oyelowo will star as her manager, Clifton Henderson. 

Saldana joins the long-awaited project after Mary J. Blige dropped out over funding issues. 

Nina will cover the breadth of Simone's eventful life, from her rise as a singer-songwriter in the 1950s, her involvement in the civil rights movement in the '60s, and her exile to France caused by tax issues, where she died in 2003. Henderson was her assistant and manager later in life.
Production begins in Los Angeles on October 16.

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(Photos from left: Jeff Vespa/Getty Images for THR, Courtesy of Legacy Recording)