Former Executive Vice President of Tyler Perry Studios, Roger Bobb, who left the company earlier this year to start his own film production company called Bobcat Films, made his feature film directorial debut with a project titled Raising Izzie – a film that premiered on the GMC (Gospel Music Channel) in July.
Bobb certainly isn't stopping with that film, and, as you'll find out in the below video interview with Humor Mill TV, has a few projects in the pipeline; but one he mentions that got my attention was his revelation that he'll be remaking a "very popular black love story," although he doesn't say what that "very popular black love story" is.
He tells Humor Mill TV that he'll be giving them the exclusive on that project at the end of the month, which would've been at the end of August, just a few days ago, because the interview was recorded during the week of the Merge Summit in LA, on August 23 – 25. It doesn't seem like he's said anything yet, because Humor Mill TV doesn't have any updates on the project; but it is a holiday weekend, so maybe we'll know something this week.
The first question we all have is probably what "very popular black love story" Bobb is talking about remaking. We figured that it might be the Mahogany remake that we alerted you to about a week ago, which Suzanne de Passe optioned the rights to, and is producing via her de Pass-Jones Entertainment production company. No director was attached to the project when we wrote about it, so it could very well be that Roger Bobb is their guy.
We also learned that Suzanne de Passe was also in attendance at the Merge Summit where Roger Bobb was as well, when he had the interview below. Of course that doesn't mean much, since plenty of black Hollywood people were there, but it was worth mentioning.
If not Mahogany, what else? Claudine? It has to be something prior to 1990; it won't make sense to remake a film like Love Jones, or Love & Basketball – 2 other films that come up a lot when black folks are asked to list their favorite black love story movies. And Bobb did say a "very popular black love story," so it has to be one that most black folks know about; it can't be some obscure flick. And that makes the list short. So we're thinking, prior to 1990, although more like 1970s, because there weren't a lot of black love story movies in the 1980s.
I almost forgot to mention that, in the interview, the interviewer for Humor Mill, Frank Holder, who seems to be in-the-know about the project, let's it slip that he has a "funny feeling it has something to do with Beyoncé and…"
He doesn't finish his sentence, instead saying that they'll get back to it later in the interview, but they never do.
So, if Frank knows something about the project, and he's right about the Beyoncé attachment to whatever it is, what could the film be? I still think it comes down to Mahogany and Claudine. Although if it's Beyoncé, then one might automatically expect there to be some singing, or a musical.
What do yo guys think?
Watch the full interview below (the revelation comes at about the 2:18 mark):
