Regina King is set to make a splash with her theatrical directorial debut. She has been tapped to helm One Night in Miami, which is based on the debut play of the same name from Kemp Powers. It gives a fictional account of a real-life night featuring a pre-Muhammad Ali Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, Malcolm X and Sam Cooke.
Here’s the description: Set on the night of February 25, 1964, the story follows a young Cassius Clay as he emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Center as the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Against all odds, he’s defeated Sonny Liston and shocked the world of boxing. While crowds of people swarm Miami Beach’s hotspots to celebrate the match, Clay — unable to stay on the island because of Jim Crow-era segregation laws — spends the night at the Hampton House Motel in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood celebrating with three of his friends: activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown. The next morning, the men emerge determined to define a new world. In One Night in Miami, Powers aims to pinpoint exactly what happened during those pivotal hours. Featuring the music of Cooke, including his hit song, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” the film offers a piercing narrative for the evening, which challenges the four men, strips them bare and reveals them for who they were.
Regina King is arguably one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood right now, active as an actor, producer and director. In the past year, she’s won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and an Oscar for work in both television and film. Her next big role will be leading Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen series on HBO. Over the past several years, she’s become an acclaimed television director, helming episodes of shows like Scandal, The Good Doctor, Pitch and Insecure. And One Night in Miami isn’t exactly King’s overall feature directorial debut, as she directed the 2013 BET television film, Let The Church Say Amen.
Snoot Entertainment’s Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder (Blindspotting) are producing with ABKCO. Right now, a studio is not attached and it is unclear if this film would fall under the mega Netflix deal that King signed earlier this year.
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