Still basking in the glow that was the No. 1 box office opening last weekend for “Hidden Figures” (its wide release debut), Taraji P. Henson has lined up a new big-screen project. A potential Oscar nomination in her near future (she has been nominated once previously), Henson is attached to star in Screen Gems’ upcoming drama “Proud Mary,” playing a hit-woman named Mary, “whose life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy who awakens her maternal instinct in her that she never knew she had,” according to the announcement. No other details are available at this time.
Scripted by John Stewart Newman and Christian Swegal, a director for “Proud Mary” is yet to be attached, although production is slated to begin this April in Boston, with Paul Schiff and Tai Duncan producing.
By the way, “Proud Mary” is also the name of a hit 1969 rock song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. Ike & Tina Turner covered “Proud Mary” in 1970. And in 1993, Tina Turner re-recorded the song for the soundtrack to her “What’s Love Got to Do with It” biopic in 1993. Although it doesn’t appear that the movie has any connection to the song with regards to meaning.
However, the term “proud Mary” also may refer to a woman who always holds her head up proudly, no matter the situation.
Henson does have a working relationship with Screen Gems (the Sony Pictures subsidiary), starring in previous films released by the studio including “No Good Deed,” “Think Like a Man,” and its sequel, “Think Like a Man Too.”
Henson will next be seen in a Tyler Perry-produced dramedy titled “Acrimony” which, according to IMDB, is being directed by first-timer Rose Olivia Sharon (her feature debut). The film’s plot is being kept under-wraps, but Henson stars in the film along with Tika Sumpter.
According to the Pittsburgh Film Office, some scenes from “Acrimony” were shot in the city last fall, and Lionsgate will distribute the film, although no date is set at this time. Recall Perry inked a 2-picture deal with the studio late last year, after the success of “Boo! A Madea Halloween”; we were told that one of the films will be another Madea headliner, but the second was kept a mystery. “Acrimony” might be it.
Henson’s memoir “Around the Way Girl” was published last year, in which she claimed she was paid “sofa change compared to what my co-stars received” for her Oscar-nominated performance in “Benjamin Button.” Something tells me her checks today are a lot more significant in number.
The actress can currently be seen in the aforementioned “Hidden Figures.”
