With Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars now on his resume, the whole world waits with bated breath to find out what the talented Barry Jenkins is going to make next. Will the critical and commercial success (relative to budget) of “Moonlight” – as well as the numerous awards the film has won – make it a little easier to get his next project financed and produced? It’s often a question that’s asked after an actor or filmmaker wins the industry’s top honor in their individual categories; especially when it’s a talent of color, or from other under-represented groups. How much weight does winning an Oscar actually carry, and what kind of influence can it have on a winner’s career?

Time will tell in Mr. Jenkins’ case; but it’s safe to say that, at this point in time, many of us are rooting for his success, and are looking forward to what comes next.

As of today, what we do know that he’s attached to are the following 2 projects. Worth emphasizing here is that both of them were announced months before the Oscars (the nominations weren’t even out at the time), so he may/may no longer be attached to either, his industry profile now sky-high following his big Oscar night, as he may suddenly find himself in even more demand than he was 6 months ago:

— First, Universal tapped Jenkins to develop a coming-of-age dramatic feature based on the life of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields; he is both to script and likely direct his own screenplay.

For the uninitiated, during the summer Olympics in Brazil last year, Claressa Shields successfully defended her London 2012 gold medal win in the women’s middleweight division, beating the Netherlands’ Nouchka Fontijn in a unanimous decision. And with that win, Shields, making history yet again, became the first USA boxer, male or female, ever to win two Olympic gold medals!

In 2012, then 17-year-old Claressa “T-Rex” Shields became the youngest woman – and one of the first women – to ever box in the Olympics.

For the first time ever, women’s boxing was included in the 2012 Olympics. Fighting for gold was Shields, who came from the “hard knock” streets of Flint, Michigan, and went on to be undefeated as a fighter. Her coach, Jason Crutchfield, has trained her since she was an 11-year-old hanging out at his gym. Despite growing tension between her and Crutchfield, as well as with her family, as she got closer and closer to achieving her dream, a fierce and determined Claressa desperately wanted to take her family to a better, safer place, and winning a gold medal was her one big chance. And at the 2012 summer Olympics in London, women’s boxing was a first-time-ever sport, with Claressa being the youngest of all the competitors.

Her current record stands at 62 wins, 18 of them by knockout, and just 1 loss!

Her story was the subject of a 2015 documentary titled “T-Rex,” which was released last summer. The film was directed by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari.

In addition to the documentary on her life, which is now currently available on various home video platforms, announced in March of this year, Universal Pictures teamed with Michael De Luca Productions to acquire life rights to Claressa’s story last year, with plans to produce a scripted feature film which is being framed as “Rocky-esque.” One wonders if the box office success of “Creed” was of any influence on this decision.

Soon after, the news of Jenkins’ attachment was announced.

No ETA on the delivery of the project at this time. But this could be a breakout role for a young up-and-coming actress, whomever is cast eventually.

— And second, 2 weeks before “Moonlight” was set to open in USA theaters last fall, it was announced that Jenkins was re-teaming with his “Moonlight” producers (Brad Pitt’s) Plan B, and Adele Romanski, to adapt Colson Whitehead’s novel, “The Underground Railroad,” as a limited TV series.

Whitehead’s latest novel was published on August 2, 2016, and saw immediate success thanks in part to Oprah Winfrey naming it a Book Club pick, as well as critical praise from literary critics.

The novel chronicles a young slave’s adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South.

The novel’s official summary reads: Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. Cora and Caesar’s first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But the city’s placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom. Like the protagonist of Gulliver’s Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey—hers is an odyssey through time as well as space.

As of the time of the announcement last September, the project wasn’t set up at any network.

Should it eventually get picked up as a series, it will join other Underground Railroad-related series either already airing, like WGN’s hit “Underground” series which returns for a second season shortly; and those that have been announced and currently in development, including 2 feature films on Harriet Tubman, and NBC’s planned 8-hour miniseries “Freedom Run,” to name a few.

No ETA on this one either. But like the Claressa “T-Rex” Shields film, this could be a career coup for an up-and-coming actress as well. Of course, a few things have to happen first between now and then.

We should note that both of these project may no longer be in the works with Jenkins attached; we have no inside information on where each stands. His Oscar win may have suddenly put him in even more demand than he was 6 months ago; so don’t be surprised if his name is suddenly attached to something else entirely. Such is the flow of Hollywood.

It should be mentioned that he directed an episode of Netflix’s upcoming “Dear White People” series from Justin Simien, which premieres this spring.

In the meantime, while we wait for official word on what Mr. Jenkins will tackle next, you can stream (on Netflix), rent or buy the Claressa “T-Rex” Shields documentary right now; you can also pick up a copy of Colson Whitehead’s novel at your favorite online/offline bookstore.

Here’s a trailer for “T-Rex.”