Barry Jenkins will next adapt James Baldwinâs If Beale Street Could Talk for the big screen
Following a Best Picture Academy Award for last yearâs Moonlight, writer and director Barry Jenkins has officially marked his next project. This October, Jenkins will begin production on If Beale Street Could Talk, a feature film adaptation of James Baldwinâs acclaimed 1974 novel.
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If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of Tish, a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her loverâs innocence while carrying their first-born child. It is a celebration of love told through the story of a young couple, their families and their lives, trying to bring about justice through love, for love and the promise of the American dream.
Jenkins, who has wanted to make the film for many years, wrote the If Beale Street Could Talk screenplay during the same summer sojourn in 2013 when he penned Moonlight. Since then, Jenkins has worked toward securing the trust of the Baldwin Estate.
âWe are delighted to entrust Barry Jenkins with this adaptation,â says Gloria Karefa-Smart, Baldwinâs sister. âBarry is a sublimely conscious and gifted filmmaker, whose âMedicine for Melancholyâ impressed us so greatly that we had to work with him.â
âJames Baldwin is a man of and ahead of his time,â says Jenkins. âHis interrogations of the American consciousness have remained relevant to this day. To translate the power of Tish and Fonnyâs love to the screen in Baldwinâs image is a dream Iâve long held dear. Working alongside the Baldwin Estate, Iâm excited to finally make that dream come true.â
If Beale Street Could Talk will mark Jenkinsâ first collaboration with Annapurna and a re-teaming of Moonlightâs producing team, PASTEL and Plan B.