Cher to star in Lifetime's upcoming TV movie about the water crisis in Flint

Lifetime is making a TV movie about the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and it's cast Cher to star. The film, entitled Flint, will reportedly be based off of Time's cover story from February 2016, "The Toxic Trap." Cher, in what marks her second TV movie role, will play a Flint resident whose family has been affected by the crisis, which exposed thousands of children to dangerously high levels of lead in their drinking water.

While casting Cher in a movie about Flint might seem somewhat out of left field, the pop icon has been vocal about the crisis, which started in April 2014 after the local government, under a state-appointed emergency manager, changed the city's water sources. Last January, Cher partnered with the water company Icelandic Glacial to donate nearly 200,000 bottles of water to Flint, and she urged her "fellow artists" to step up to help Flint too.

Production for the movie is expected to start in the spring. The script will be by Barbara Stepansky, and Oscar-nominated Bruce Beresford will direct. Cher will also executive produce, along with Katie Couric, Neil Meron, and Craig Zadan.

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