Rihanna Lands Role in ‘Battleship’ Movie

Rihanna is ready for her close-up. The Barbadian singer, who was nominated this year for an Emmy for acting in the 'Saturday Night Live' skit 'Shy Ronnie,' is ready to make her big-screen debut, signing on to star in Universal's 'Battleship,' directed by Peter Berg ('Hancock') and co-starring Alexander Skarsgard ('True Blood') and Taylor Kitsch ('Friday Night Lights').

Though it is unclear what role Rihanna will play, 'Battleship,' based on the Hasbro board game, will be a live-action flick that stars Kitsch, as a naval officer, and his brother (Skarsgard), who lead a ship to fight against a superior force across the seas, in the skies and on land. The film, written by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber ('Whiteout'), is currently set for release on May 25, 2012.

Like with Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys, Rihanna's transition into movies comes after years of success as a musician. Releasing her debut album, 'Music of the Sun,' in 2005, the now 22-year-old hit her career stride in 2007 with the release of her third album, 'Good Girl Gone Bad,' which spawned eight singles that all charted in the top 20 positions of the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved platinum status in more than a dozen countries.

Her most recent album, 'Rated R,' released in November 2009, earned her the highest first week sales of any of her releases, selling 181,000 copies and bowing at No. 4 on the charts. The platinum-certified disc has produced the hits 'Hard' featuring Young Jeezy, 'Russian Roulette' and 'Rude Boy,' which held the top spot on the chart for five consecutive weeks.