*Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group Motion Pictures is set to produce a biopic about celebrated novelist and activist James Baldwin.
Billy Porter will star as Baldwin in the project based on David Leeming’s 1994 book “James Baldwin: A Biography.” The upcoming film does not have a release date yet but will likely premiere during awards season. Porter is an Oscar short of EGOT status having already an Emmy, Tony, and a Grammy Award.
“As a Black queer man on this planet with relative consciousness, I find myself, like James Baldwin said, ‘in a rage all the time.’ I am because James was. I stand on James Baldwin’s shoulders, and I intend to expand his legacy for generations to come,” Porter said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Porter’s Incognegro Productions will co-produce the biopic along with Allen Media Group.
READ MORE: Billy Porter Details Sexual Abuse, Rape As a Child in New Memoir
“Why must you always concentrate on color?”
As always, this answer from James Baldwin is what you were looking for. Must watch.#BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/YsJcsmyxsT
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) February 1, 2023
Harlem-born Baldwin was a gay writer and civil rights activist best known for books such as “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “Notes of a Native Son,” “Another Country,” and “The Fire Next Time.” Several of Baldwin’s novels have been adapted for television or inspired movies, including Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
In 2016, director Raoul Peck released “I Am Not Your Negro,” a 2016 documentary film based on Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript “Remember This House.” The film is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Academy Awards. The project won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.
Porter will pen the script for the Baldwin biopic with Dan McCabe, according to THR.
“Billy Porter and Dan McCabe’s talent and commitment to amplifying James Baldwin’s legacy and contributions are invaluable and unmatched for this unique and epic story,” said Allen, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, in his own statement.
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