Ava DuVernay’s hit television series “Queen Sugar” has been renewed. The critically acclaimed series will return for a third season on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Winfrey, who co-created the family drama with DuVernay, has also secured a new first-look TV deal with the “Selma” helmer through her Harpo Films production label.
“Queen Sugar” follows the Bordelon family in the aftermath of their patriarch’s sudden death, the future of their 800-acre Louisiana sugar cane farm uncertain. Three estranged adult siblings are reunited and drama ensues. Rutina Wesley (“True Blood”), Dawn-Lyen Gardner (“Heroes”), Kofi Siriboe (“Awkward), Tina Lifford (“Parenthood”), and Omar J. Dorsey (“Ray Donovan”) star.
The second season of “Queen Sugar” is currently airing. Thus far every episode of the series has been helmed by a woman.
DuVernay is showing no signs of slowing down. The prolific director is already collaborating with Harpo Films on her latest project for Netflix, a recently announced five-part miniseries about the Central Park Five. She previously paired up with the streaming giant for “13th,” an Oscar-nominated doc exploring the connection between slavery and mass incarceration in the U.S. DuVernay’s hotly anticipated adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic sci-fi novel, “A Wrinkle in Time” stars Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and Storm Reid (“12 Years a Slave.”) The pic hits theaters March 9, 2018.
“I’m so proud of Ava and her ability as a filmmaker to challenge the status quo and push for inclusiveness onscreen and behind the camera,” said Winfrey. “I love, love, love the work we have been able to create so far. I am looking forward to developing many more meaningful projects together.”