'Moonlight' Director Barry Jenkins Details Next Feature Film

It will be an adaptation of James Baldwin's 'If Beale Street Could Talk'

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jul 10, 2017

After finding success with the powerful Moonlight last year, Barry Jenkins was tapped by Amazon to helm a series on the Underground Railroad. Now, the in-demand director has shed light on another project he recently added to his roster.

Jenkins is set to direct an adaptation of James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk for Annapurna Pictures. The 1974 novel follows the trials and tribulations of a Harlem couple separated upon the husband being accused of rape.

As Variety reports, Jenkins wrote the screenplay for the film at the same time he wrote Moonlight in 2013. He has also been working in tandem with the Baldwin estate in bringing the novel to the screen.

"James Baldwin is a man of and ahead of his time; his interrogations of the American consciousness have remained relevant to this day," Jenkins told the publication. "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."

​Baldwin's sister, Gloria Karefa-Smart, added, "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."

Production on the film is expected to begin in October of this year.

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