After the success of her first slate of Lifetime films, Mary J. Blige is taking her partnership with the television company to the next level.
According to multiple outlets, including Deadline, the multi-time Academy Award-nominee and Grammy Award winner is extending her film deal with Lifetime to include three new original movies, all based on her timeless music.
The first, “Mary J. Blige Presents Be Happy” will arrive later this year and star Tisha Campbell, Mekhi Phifer and Russell Hornsby. Gabourey Sidibe, best known for her role in the film “Precious,” will make her directorial debut.
“Be Happy” is based on the smash hit from Blige’s 1994 sophomore album, “My Life” and stars Campbell as a 50-year-old devoted mother and wife who desires to feel the spark of her marriage with Hornsby again after her youngest child leaves for college. Juggling with that mental obstacle, she jets off to New Orleans to support her pregnant daughter, played by Zing Ashford, where she meets a man, played by Phifer, who sets her creative passions ablaze and beyond. It asks the age old question: Do you ultimately get the fairytale you deserve if you choose yourself? Is it too late to ever do it?
Previous song titles from Blige’s extensive catalog, from “Real Love” to “Family Affair,” have been translated into movies and, according to Lifetime and Nielsen data, have attracted more than 6.1 million viewers.
Beginning in 2023, Lifetime and Blige launched their initial three-film project, centered around a burgeoning romance at a historically Black college. “Real Love” and “Strength of a Woman” focused on Ajiona Alexus as Kendra, a young college student who attempts to navigate love, life and the pressures of success alongside Ben, played by Da’Vinchi. “Family Affair,” released in 2025, focused on the two as they dealt with fertility issues and the growing strains of their relationship.
With “Be Happy,” the MJB cinematic universe looks to once again hook viewers in with a tale of love, both in terms of incredible highs and self-discovery.
