Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘Moonlight’s’ Barry Jenkins to Adapt James Baldwin Novel ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’

Director Barry Jenkins attends The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 20th Anniversary Celebration of "Love Jones" at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on June 13, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.
Director Barry Jenkins attends The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 20th Anniversary Celebration of “Love Jones” at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on June 13, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.

*Barry Jenkins has chosen his follow up to “Moonlight.”

The director is set to direct an adaptation of the James Baldwin novel “If Beale Street Could Talk” for Annapurna Pictures, reports Variety.

Based on the Baldwin novel, the story follows Tish, a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her lover’s innocence while caring for their first born child.

The project marks his first feature film since “Moonlight” won the 2017 Academy Award for best picture. He is also set to write and direct an hourlong drama series about the Underground Railroad for Amazon, based on Colson Whitehead’s best-selling book “The Underground Railroad.”

Production on “If Beale Street Could Talk” is expected to start in October.

Below, more details on the project via Variety:

Jenkins, who has wanted to make the film for many years, wrote the screenplay during the same summer sojourn in 2013 when he penned “Moonlight.” Since then, Jenkins has been working with the Baldwin Estate. Baldwin’s sister, Gloria Karefa-Smart, says, “We are delighted to entrust Barry Jenkins with this adaptation. Barry is a sublimely conscious and gifted filmmaker, whose medicine for melancholy impressed us so greatly that we had to work with him.”

“James Baldwin is a man of and ahead of his time; his interrogations of the American consciousness have remained relevant to this day,” Jenkins said. “To translate the power of Tish and Fonny’s love to the screen in Baldwin’s image is a dream I’ve long held dear. Working alongside the Baldwin Estate, I’m excited to finally make that dream come true.”

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