She’s direct videos for Beyonce and Rihanna, Issa Rae’s Insecure — and now she’s heading up a much needed-to-be-told story for Amazon Studios.
Melina Matsoukas will adapt Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings. Matsoukas, who will also be an executive producer, is developing it as a series.
According to THR, who exclusively reported the news, “Seven Killings begins with the attempted assassination of reggae icon Bob Marley and explores its aftermath, looking at one vital day in multiple time periods. The novel looked at Jamaican politics, poverty, race, class and the volatile relationship between the U.S. and the Caribbean, and traced the connection between CIA efforts to destabilize a left-wing Jamaican government in the 1970s to the brutal realities of gang wars in the Kingston ghettos and their spread to New York in the 1980s.”
“A Brief History of Seven Killings is a complex story that needs to be told, about a people whose voices need to be heard. It’s been my dream to bring this story to life onscreen since reading the first line of Marlon’s book. I am deeply honored to be entrusted with this tapestry of stories so entrenched in roots, reggae, race, mysticism and politics, while working alongside Marlon to ensure an authentic portrayal of his words,” she said in a statement on Monday.
James will also executive produce and write the script, and Malcolm Spellman, co-executive producer of FOX’s Empire (and a producer on HBO’s controversial planned series, Confederate) will be an executive producer and the showrunner.
Jill Soloway, creator of Transparent and her Topple Productions partner Andrea Sperling, will be executive producing as well, along with Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button writer, Eric Roth.