Barry Jenkins is on a whirlwind. Fresh in the throes of awards season with the acclaim of his current film, If Beale Street Could Talk, the Academy Award-winning director is talking about his next move.
In an interview with Vulture during Sunday’s Golden Globes, Jenkins revealed what viewers can expect from Underground Railroad, his adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning book of the same name. “It’s such a massive project, so different than Moonlight and Beale Street, it doesn’t really relate at all,” Jenkins told Vulture.
The Florida-bred auteur also revealed to Vulture that he would like to deviate further from his formula by directing a science fiction film. “I think now I want to grow aesthetically. I would love to do a sci-fi film,” he said. “I’m a big fan of Denis Villeneuve. I would love to do something in the vein of that.” With the success of Black Panther, the seeds have been planted for afrofuturism to step out of the margins of obscurity into the forefront of mainstream media. There is also a ton of material from Black science fiction authors that Jenkins could adapt, from Samuel R. Delany’s acclaimed novel to Dhalgren to Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed.
Here’s a suggestion for Jenkins: Team up with his former Moonlight colleague Janelle Monae to direct a film adaptation of her concept album The ArchAndroid.
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