Compared to the first set of photos I posted last week (there've been others since then), these new pics show a Zoe Saldana that's much further into the transformation to Nina Simone than what we've seen previously, so we had to share. 

What might she look like on film, when it's been shot, post-production is complete, etc? We'll just have to wait to find out.

We continue to hope that we will get to talk to director Cynthia Mort eventually, so that all the questions many of you have can be answered. I'm especially curious about who exactly the target audience for this is, because black America seems to have near-universally rejected the projected. Although I can't speak for everyone. But It's a rare thing to find a single positive comment about this anywhere – and not just on S&A, but across the entire black blogosphere.

As was recently announced, Mike Epps joined the cast, playing Richard Pryor. And David Oyelowo will be Nina's Paris-based manager Clifton Henderson. Also revealed by BlackFilm.com is that Kevin Mambo has been cast in the film as well.

The movie started filming earlier this month in Los Angeles, with Mark Burton, Barnaby Thompson, Stuart Parr and Ben Latham Jones producing.

It should be out in 2013.

Here are the rest of the photos: