Anna Nicole Smith-biopic starts shooting next week

Dancer-singer Willa Ford has signed to star as Anna Nicole Smith in an indie biopic that will begin shooting next week. The previously announced film, "Anna Nicole," is produced by Jack Nasser and Joseph Nasser with Elie Samaha exec producing. Keoni Waxman directs.

The movie will cover Smith's life from age 17 until her death in February at 39, including her success as a Playboy centerfold, Guess model and actress, her marriage to billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, the death of her son and her own death five months after giving birth to a baby girl, Dannielynn. The dispute that erupted over who was the baby's father was settled Tuesday when a judge in the Bahamas ruled, based on DNA tests, in favor of California photographer and former Smith boyfriend Larry Birkhead.

Ford's best known for her multiplatinum single "I Wanna Be Bad" and her debut album "Willa Was Here." She was also a performer on the third season of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." She is currently writing and recording her sophomore album.