Writer/director Barry Jenkins, the Oscar-winning man behind 2017’s Best Picture winner Moonlight, has revealed a teaser on Twitter for his next film, If Beale Street Could Talk, based on the James Baldwin novel of the same name. The teaser was released by Annapurna Pictures to coincide with the late Baldwin’s birthday on August 2, 1924. Check out the If Beale Street Could Talk teaser below!
If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of Tish, a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her lover’s 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 worked toward securing the trust of the Baldwin Estate.
The film, which is produced by Plan B Entertainment and Pastel Productions and distributed by Annapurna Pictures, stars KiKi Layne in the lead role of Tish, as well as Stephan James (Race) as her fiancee Fonny, Regina King (Seven Seconds) as Tish’s mother and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead) as Mr. Rivers, as well as Teyonah Parris (Chi-Raq), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), Dave Franco (The Disaster Artist), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Michael Beach (The 100), Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story), Aunjanue Ellis (The Help), Diego Luna (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Pedro Pascal (Kingsman: The Golden Circle) and Emily Rios (The Bridge).
If Beale Street Could Talk will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September followed by a theatrical release on November 30.
