*Hollywood put Nate Parker on a timeout when news resurfaced of his 1999 college rape trial, and his Sundance sensation “The Birth of a Nation” was derailed by the controversy.
Now, Parker is set to make his return with “Black & Blue,” a drama about Los Angeles Police Department hero Ralph Waddy, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The “incredible life story follows an LAPD sleuth with a hand in iconic American events like the Watts riots, the Robert Kennedy assassination and the Manson Murders,” per TheWrap.
Singer-actor Macy Gray is in talks to star and assist with the original score.
Parker will direct “Black & Blue,” his first feature since “Birth of a Nation,” which garnered negative attention after a 17-year-old rape case from his days at Penn State University made headlines and Variety reported on the suicide of the woman who alleged Parker and his writing partner, Jean Celestin, assaulted her.
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As noted by THR, “the situation predated the current #MeToo and Time’s Up movements,” so Parker’s new projects “will be closely watched by industry insiders to see if he’s able to mount a return to Hollywood in the current climate.”
As previously reported, Parker is putting together a shortform digital series titled “Baselines,” about a Los Angeles family intent on protecting their son and his basketball dreams from the dangers of inner-city life.
According to a “Baselines” casting breakdown, the series is composed of 10 short-form episodes totaling six to eight minutes each.
The storyline will follow a tight-knit family as they struggle to “protect its aspiring pro basketball player from the dangers of inner-city Los Angeles.”
Parker is directing and writing “this raw beautiful story about family, passion and betrayal,” reads the breakdown, which goes on to detail that the project is “Sons of Anarchy meets The Crypts.“
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