by Jeremy Rogers Barry Jenkins, director of Oscar darling Moonlight, has announced that his next project will be an adaptation of famed author James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk. Beale Street follows Tish and Fonny, young lovers living in 1970s Harlem. After Fonny is accused of rape and imprisoned, Tish, finding herself pregnant with her first child, must race to find the evidence to set her love free so he can see his child. Jenkins has said that he wrote the screenplay for his upcoming adaptation while he was working on Moonlight, despite not having acquired the rights to Baldwin’s work. Reportedly, the Baldwin Estate has been in close contact with Jenkins as he has worked to bring his next film to audiences in a way that respects the late author’s ideals and voice. If Beale Street Could Talk will begin production in October with Annapurna Pictures. Detroit will be their first film that they are distributing free of any other partnerships, and will be in theaters August 4. Some may be familiar with the company’s video game publishing branch, Annapurna Interactive’s recent indie success What Remains of Edith Finch which holds an 89% on metacritic. One of their upcoming projects, The Artful Escape, was featured during Microsoft’s 2017 E3 press conference.
Sources: New York Times, Annapurna, Metacritic Image: The Indian Express
