‘Moonlight’ Director Barry Jenkins Picks James Baldwin Novel For Next Film

Following his big 2017 Academy Awards win, Moonlight director Barry Jenkins will adapt If Beal Street Could Talk, a novel by James Baldwin, for his next film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The novel follows a pair of protagonists in love, Fonny and Tish, whose world unravels when Fonny is falsely accused of rape. Tish races to prove Fonny’s innocence as she carries their first-born child. The Oscar-winning director wrote the screenplay for the adaptation in 2013, the same year he wrote Moonlight.

Jenkins is working closely with the Baldwin estate and Annapurna Pictures (the studio putting out the upcoming film “Detroit“) on the project.

In a statement, Gloria Karefa-Smart (Baldwin’s sister) said the family is “delighted to entrust Barry Jenkins with this adaptation,” calling him a “sublimely conscious and gifted filmmaker.”

Over recent years, there has been a resurgence of attention to Baldwin’s work and words. Baldwin’s astute and candid analysis of race relations in America is cited by activists throughout Black Lives Matter movements, and the recent “I Am Not Your Negro” documentary was critically acclaimed.

Film production is scheduled to start in October.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter

SEE ALSO:

The Men Of ‘Moonlight’ Are Giving Us Life In New Calvin Klein Underwear Campaign

Moonlight Is The Perfect Antidote For Those Who Are Still Uncomfortable With Black Gay Men In Love

James Baldwin Documentary Inspires Students At Eponymous High School