Melina Matsoukas’ banner year just got even better. Her feature directorial debut, “Queen & Slim,” hits theaters next week, and now comes word that she has inked a first-look deal with FX Productions. The pact sees Matsoukas developing new content for FX Networks, Deadline reports.
No stranger to FX, Matsoukas recently helmed the pilot of “Y” for the network. She also serves as an exec producer on the long-anticipated adaptation of the beloved comic series. Set in a post-apocalyptic, women-led world, the story takes place following a global disaster that kills every male mammal except one human and his monkey.
Matsoukas was this year’s recipient of the AFI’s Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, an award given in recognition of “the extraordinary creative talents of AFI Conservatory alumni who embody the qualities of filmmaker Franklin J. Schaffner: talent, taste, dedication, and commitment to quality storytelling in film and television.” She received a 2017 DGA nod for helming the “Thanksgiving” episode of “Master of None,” for which Lena Waithe won an Emmy for writing. Her other small-screen directing work includes seven episodes of Issa Rae-starrer “Insecure.” A two-time Grammy Award winner, Matsoukas scored trophies for directing the music videos for Rihanna’s “We Found Love” and Beyoncé’s “Formation.”
“Queen & Slim” made its world premiere at last week’s AFI Fest to rave reviews. The drama sees a black couple going on an ill-fated date. Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith, “Nightflyers”) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”) are pulled over by a cop for a minor traffic infraction, and when the police officer pulls a gun on the pair, they kill him in self-defense. Waithe penned the script.
Matsoukas recently spoke out about comparing “Queen & Slim” to “Bonnie and Clyde.” “It’s a diminishing way to describe our film, and a lazy way to understand it,” she emphasized. “I don’t like basing black films on any white archetype. Bonnie and Clyde were criminals; Queen and Slim are very much not. They are two people that are brought together by this shared experience and they are fighting for their lives. And they fall in love throughout the story. It is a very singular experience.”
