Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins To Direct ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’

After stunning audiences with his mesmeric directorial debut Moonlight, which *eventually* won the Best Picture Oscar earlier this year along with its Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali) nods, many of us have been keen to see what Barry Jenkins would turn his attention to next.

Well. We wait for news no longer.

Fresh from directing an episode of acclaimed Netflix series Dear White People, it has been confirmed he will be adapting the 1974 James Baldwin novel ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ for Annapurna Pictures and Plan B.

This is clearly a project close to Jenkins’ heart, with the screenplay written way back in 2013 and has been in regular contact with the Baldwin estate in regards the project, which revolves around Harlem-born nineteen-year-old Tish looking to prove the innocence of her wrongly accused sculptor boyfriend Fonny.

In a statement, James Baldwin’s sister Gloria Karefa-Smart said that they are ‘delighted to entrust Barry Jenkins with this adaptation’, describing him as ‘a sublimely conscious and gifted filmmaker’.

No casting details as yet for Jenkins’ latest effort, but production is set to begin this October.

Source: Variety