‘The Harder They Fall‘ director Jeymes Samuel’s biblical-set epic, ‘The Book of Clarence,’ which stars LaKeith Stanfield, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin and more, has set its premiere date.
The film, also starring David Oyelowo, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and more, has received a release date of Sept. 22, in the thick of fall festival season.
The project also stars Omar Sy, RJ Cyler, Anna Diop, Teyana Taylor, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, with McLaughlin, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Babs Olusanmokun, Nicholas Pinnock, Chase Dillon, Tom Glynn-Carney, Micheal Ward and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.
As Deadline reports, Stanfield portrays “down-on-his-luck denizen of Jerusalem” trying to capitalize on the popularity of Jesus Christ for his own reasons. His journey is described as one that “leads him on an exploration of the idea of faith and to an unexpected path of his own.”
Some members of the cast, such as Cyler and Stanfield, are reuniting with Samuel on this project, having worked with him for the Netflix western film The Harder They Fall.
Samuel is not only writing and directing, but he’s also composing the music for the film as well as producing with James Lassiter, Tendo Nagenda and Jay-Z. This marks Samuel and Jay-Z’s latest collaboration after The Harder They Fall. Garrett Grant will executive produce.
Samuel told Deadline in 2022 why he’s decided to go back to biblical times for his next film.
“I want to tell the tales that we’ve never had before. We’ve never had Black people in the Bible days of cinema. There’s not even a template for us to go, ‘Well, like that movie?'” he said. “Even when Andrew Lloyd Webber made something as nuanced as Jesus Christ Superstar, there’s no Black people in it, except Judas. Judas was the Black guy. ‘I’m going to betray you, Jesus.’ What the hell? That’s what you’re giving us? That’s the Black guy?”
“You saw what I did with the Western. I want to give people something to talk about,” he said. “Imagine when they unleash Jesus on me. I’m going to give us something we’ve never seen before. But it’s going to be so much fun.”
