Regina King is getting ready to make her feature directorial debut on one of the most interesting films of the last few years. According to Deadline, King will direct One Night in Miami, an adaptation of Kemp Powers’ play of the same name. Kemp wrote the adapted script for the film.
One Night in Miami will track the events of the night of February 25, 1964. A young Cassius Clay has just upset Sonny Liston to become the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. But, due to Jim Crow-era segregation laws, Clay isn’t even allowed to stay on the island where he just won. Instead, he stays that evening at the Hampton House Motel in Overtown. There, he spends the night celebrating with three close friends of his: Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown.
The story itself will be a dramatized, fictional account of the events but the night itself is a very real part of history. The film is aiming to reveal what happened that night and how it affected each of those men moving forward. It will feature Cooke’s music, including A Change is Gonna Come, as the four men go on a journey of self-discovery across their night in Miami.
Not sure there’s much left to say about this one. No further information has been released yet but, just the synopsis and King’s involvement already have my excitement levels through the roof. Before she helms this though, King is set to appear later this year in HBO’s Watchmen.
