‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’ series coming for Amazon
THE VISUAL adaptation of Marlon James’ Man Booker prizewinning, A Brief History of Seven
Killings, has found its director. Melina Matsoukas, chief director of the HBO series Insecure, will tackle adaptation for Amazon Studios.
Matsoukas is developing the project
as a series and will direct the episodes. Matsoukas will also be the executive producer. Teaming up with her is James, who will write the script as well as executive produce, while Malcolm Spellman, a writer and co-executive producer on Empire (and a producer on HBO’s controversial planned series Confederate), will be the showrunner and executive producer as well.
According to the exclusive report of The Hollywood Reporter, ‘Seven Killings begins with the attempted assassination of reggae icon Bob Marley and explores its aftermath, looking at one vital day in multiple time periods. The novel looked at Jamaican politics, poverty, race, class, and the volatile relationship between the US, and the Caribbean and traced the connection between CIA efforts to destabilise a leftwing Jamaican government in the 1970s to the brutal realities of gang wars in the Kingston ghettos and their spread to New York in the 1980s.”
“A Brief History of Seven Killings is a complex story that needs to be told about a people
whose voices need to be heard. It’s been my dream to bring this story to life onscreen since reading the first line of Marlon’s book. I am deeply honoured to be entrusted with this tapestry of stories so entrenched in roots, reggae, race, mysticism, and politics, while working alongside Marlon to ensure an authentic portrayal of his words,” Matsoukas said in a recent statement.
Music consumers will be familiar with Matsoukas’s work as she sat in the director’s chair for Rihanna’s You Da One, We Found Love, and Rude Boy. Matsoukas is also the director of Beyonce’s Grammy-winning Formation.
She has quickly become highly sought-after for both television and film with her work on Insecure. She has also directed episodes of Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Master of None.
Other big names involved with the project include Transparent creator Jill Soloway and her Topple Productions partner Andrea Sperling, who are executive producing. Eric Roth, who wrote Forrest Gump, as well as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is also executive producing.