Another Angela Davis biopic is in the works. Variety reports that Codeblack Films has acquired the film rights to the civil rights activist’s 1974 autobiography with plans to develop and produce an authorized feature about her life. An unauthorized biopic of the controversial retired professor is also set to hit the big-screen: The Firm acquired an as-yet untitled script from LaToya Morgan, who previously served as a staff writer on Showtime’s “Shameless,” that tells Davis’ remarkable story.
Codeblack’s Davis project, also currently untitled, is set to be written by Eisa Davis, Angela Davis’ niece and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Eisa Davis will also serve as an EP on the film alongside Angela Davis with Nina Yang Bongiovi (“Fruitvale Station”), Sidra Smith, and Codeblack’s CEO Jeff Clanagan producing. Smith was a producer on Shola Lynch’s 2012 Davis doc “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners,” which Codeback acquired theatrical rights to.
Davis made headlines in 1970 when she became the third woman to appear on the FBI’s infamous 10 Most Wanted List for suspected involvement in a racially-charged hostage situation in a courtroom in Marin County, California. Davis fled before being captured, and the fugitive’s story received a great deal of attention, both in the U.S. and abroad. The professor and author was eventually tried before an all-white jury who deemed her not guilty.
Variety writes, “Clanagan launched Codeblack Films, a division of Lionsgate, in 2012 with the mission to serve the global black community through a diversified content portfolio targeted to the underserved African-American consumer.”
No word on when to expect the authorized or unauthorized biopics.
