Regina King has already made her mark in Hollywood as an award-winning actress, and she’s also done it by directing episodes of “Insecure,” “Scandal” “Being Mary Jane” and other television shows.
Now she’ll direct her first full-length feature on the big screen, which will be an adaptation of “One Night in Miami,” a play about Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown. It was written by Kemp Powers in 2013, who also penned the screenplay to the film.
The fictional story surrounds a conversation between the iconic men right after Ali wins the heavyweight title against Sonny Liston on Feb. 25, 1964.
But due to segregation, he’s not allowed to celebrate in some of Miami’s most popular places, so instead he parties with Malcolm, Cooke and Brown in his room at the Hampton House Motel in Miami’s Overtown section.
During their conversation, the young men talk about how they can improve the conditions of Black people by using their respective talents, and the conversation is said to be full of life-changing epiphanies. And once the sun rises the next day, all four men are on a newfound mission to make sweeping positive changes in the Black community.
King hasn’t shared news about the film on her Instagram or Twitter pages yet, but Kemp did.
“Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” he wrote Wednesday on Instagram. “Ridiculously honored that the magnificent Regina King is helming the film adaptation of my play. Can’t wait for everyone to see what we’re cooking up!”
Production on the film is set to begin no later than the beginning of next year, and who will play the legendary men remains to be seen.
