Black Excellence within the Black Experience of TV and Film
Just week after Bel-Air has found its new Fresh Prince with newcomer and West Philadelphia local Jabari Banks, the series completed its casting. Adrian Holmes will play patriarch Phillip Banks, Cassandra Freeman will be the family’s matriarch, Vivian Banks, Olly Sholotan stars as Carlton Banks, Coco Jones as Hilary Banks, and Akira Akbar as Ashley […]
Stephan James is set as the male lead in the psychological thriller series adaptation Beacon 23 for Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks. James will co-lead opposite Lena Headey. The series is created by Zak Penn and is based on Hugh Howey’s book of the same name. Beacon 23 follows two people, whose fates become entangled […]
Idris Elba, Taylour Paige, and Justice Smith are all attached to star in the rap drama, We All Die Young. Jake Schreier will direct the picture and Daveed Diggs is penning the script based on a story by Diggs and Chinaka Hodge. We All Die Young centers on Marcus (Smith), a rapper in the midst […]
Rosario Dawson joins LaKeith Stanfield and Tiffany Haddish in Disney’s new Haunted Mansion with Justin Simien set to direct. Katie Dippold penned the script that is reportedly based on the studio’s iconic theme park attraction. Owen Wilson has also joined the cast. The Haunted Mansion theme park ride debuted in 1969 and takes guests through […]
Omar Epps and Michael Ealy are starring in the thriller The Devil You Know for Lionsgate and Command Films. Will Catlett, Glynn Turman, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Theo Rossi, BJ Britt, Vaughn Hebron, Erica Tazel, Curtiss Cook, Keisha Epps, and Ashley Williams also star in the film. READ: Showtime Orders TV Pilot of The Wood — Based […]
H.E.R. and Corey Hawkins join the cast of Warner Bros.’s feature adaptation of the Broadway musical The Color Purple. Blitz Bazawule to helm The Color Purple musical film. Marcus Gardley is penning the story that follows the lives of African-American women — namely Celie and Nettie Harris, Shug Avery and Miss Millie — in the […]
There is a documentary in the works on Reading Rainbow, the 80s children program hosted by LeVar Burton. Titled Butterfly in the Sky, Jasper Mall duo Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb are directing the documentary. The film will feature archival footage and interviews with Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton along with the major broadcasters, educators, […]
Alfre Woodard is joining the cast of New Line’s adaptation of Salem’s Lot, the 1975 Stephen King vampire novel of the same name. She joins previously cast Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Spencer Treat Clark, and Bill Camp. Gary Dauberman is writing and directing Salem’s Lot which follows young author Ben Mears (Pullman) as he returns […]
Bel-Air has found its new Fresh Prince with newcomer and West Philadelphia local Jabari Banks. The new version titled Bel-Air, is a drama series based on Morgan Cooper’s viral YouTube trailer. It was a four-minute trailer that reimagined the series as a drama. Cooper a Fresh Prince super-fan, created and directed the 2019 clip that […]
Lashana Lynch joins Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu in The Woman King for TriStar Pictures. Gina Prince Bythewood is directing and Dana Stevens wrote the original screenplay with the current draft being by Stevens and Prince-Bythewood. The film is a historical epic inspired by actual events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey. It […]