Mary J. Blige has reunited with Lifetime to executive produce several new films. First up is Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair (working title), inspired by her 2001 hit “Family Affair.”
The new flick, directed by Troy Scott and written by Rachel Ingram, is set to debut in 2025 as part of the network’s “Voices of a Lifetime” movie slate.
Family Affair will see Ajiona Alexus (BMF, Acrimony,13 Reasons Why) and Da’Vinchi (BMF) reprise their roles as Kendra and Ben, continuing the story told in Mary J. Blige’s Real Love and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman.
Kendra and Ben’s love story began with Real Love, a coming-of-age romantic drama that followed Kendra in her freshman year of college. She met Ben in her film class and fell hard for him.
After learning the meaning of “real love” and putting Ben aside to prioritize her dreams, Kendra became a successful photographer. In Strength of a Woman, Ben unexpectedly returns to Kendra’s life, where she must dig deep to find her ‘strength’ to accept Ben’s love.
Per the logline for Family Affair, the story “picks up as Kendra and Ben move out of the city in hopes of finally building a life together. With all their family around and inserted in their lives, tensions rise as they struggle with fertility issues, and Kendra tries to find her footing with Ben’s son Miles.
Their relationship reaches a boiling point when Ben secretly helps his brother, and Kendra returns to the city and an old friend comes back into her life. The family must come together to help Kendra and Ben save their relationship and stay true to their real love.”
Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair is executive produced by Jordan David and John Davis of Davis Entertainment. As indicated above, Mary J. Blige is also an executive producer through her production company, Blue Butterfly, along with Bruce Miller and Milana Edwards-Brooks as co-producers. Ajiona Alexus and Da’Vinchi also serve as executive producers.
Mary J. Blige’s Real Love, inspired by 1992’s “Real Love,” and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman, inspired by 2017’s “Strength of a Woman,” premiered in June 2023. According to Lifetime, the movies reached more than 6.4 million total viewers and ranked as cable’s No. 1 entertainment telecasts two Saturdays in a row with women ages 25 to 54.
In a 2023 interview with Rated R&B, Blige discussed her involvement in selecting the co-stars Ajiona Alexus and Da’Vinchi. “I hand-selected them. I’m a fan of BMF and I saw them in [in the series], and they were such strong actors,” Blige exclusively told Rated R&B.
She continued, “Everybody was great in BMF, but these two really stood out. I really believed them, and I wanted them for the movie. So, their performance was phenomenal. They did great. They did excellent.”
Circling back to Blige’s signature hit “Family Affair,” the Dr. Dre-produced song was the lead single from Blige’s fifth album, No More Drama. The party-ready groove spent six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, scoring Blige her first No. 1.
“Family Affair” is Blige’s most-streamed song on Spotify, with 548 million streams at the time of publication.
On Oct. 19, Blige will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Ella Mai and Lucky Daye will honor Blige with a tribute performance. The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul will also take the stage.
In music news, Blige will release her 15th album, Gratitude, on Nov. 15 via Mary Jane Productions and 300 Entertainment. It will include the lead single “Breathing” featuring Fabolous.
Revisit Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” below.
