Jamie Foxx is in talks to join Michael B. Jordan in the Warner Bros. film Just Mercy. 

The film, based on the book of the same name, chronicles the real-life story of social justice activist Bryan Stevenson (Jordan), who founded the Equal Justice Initiative.

The description, per The Hollywood Reporter: “Just Mercy was a memoir that told of Stevenson’s first case, that of Walter McMillian, a young black man sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Despite being at a barbecue surrounded by dozens of witnesses at the time of the murder, McMillian was convicted in a trial that lasted a day and a half and spent six years on death row. Stevenson’s taking on the case eventually led to the discovery that the prosecution suppressed evidence and McMillian’s exoneration. It drew critical raves, with reviewers likening it to To Kill a Mockingbird.

The film was first announced back in 2015 and is now set up at Warner Bros., who just got the rights. It was first set up by Broad Green Pictures before it shuttered.

Foxx will play the role of  McMillan, and according to Variety, who first reported his casting, the part was “highly coveted by several movie stars,” and “Foxx pushed hard for the gig which may thrust him back in the awards-season spotlight…”

The film is set for release on January 1, 2020.