‘Moonlight’ director Barry Jenkins to film adaptation of James Baldwin novel

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Barry Jenkins, the award-winning director of Moonlight, is reportedly set to direct his next movie, according to Variety.

The movie will reportedly be a direct adaptation of “If Beale Street Could Talk” by James Baldwin, for Annapurna Pictures. The novel itself tells the story of a Harlem woman named Tish who must race against the clock to prove her lover’s innocence after they had only recently become engaged, all while carrying their unborn child.

“James Baldwin is a man of and ahead of his time; his interrogations of the American consciousness have remained relevant to this day,” Jenkins said of the story. “To translate the power of Tish and Fonny’s love to the screen in Baldwin’s image is a dream I’ve long held dear. Working alongside the Baldwin Estate, I’m excited to finally make that dream come true.”

Jenkins has reportedly wanted to work on this story for some time now and wrote the screenplay for it at the same time he was writing Moonlight. He has since been working with the Baldwin estate towards making this dream a reality.

Baldwin’s sister, Gloria Karefa-Smart, said of working with Jenkins, “We are delighted to entrust Barry Jenkins with this adaptation. Barry is a sublimely conscious and gifted filmmaker, whose medicine for melancholy impressed us so greatly that we had to work with him.”