Michael B. Jordan Is Turning the African Fantasy Novel Black Leopard, Red Wolf Into a Movie
Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan has another exciting movie in the works-only this time it appears he's lending his talents behind the camera. According to Deadline, the 31-year-old actor, who recently spoke to Oprah about the Black Panther sequel, mental health, and dating, just scored the film rights to Marlon James's new fantasy novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf via his production company, Outlier Society, and Warner Bros.
The book-to-movie adaption is the latest project to come out of Jordan's first-look deal with both movie houses, following the announcement of his upcoming film, Just Mercy. The deal was signed in January to "focus on culturally rich storytelling, representative of the global community and providing a platform for the next generation of talent to thrive."
Jordan will do just that with Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which like Black Panther, is deeply rooted in African culture and mythology. James is also on board to executive produce the film.
The story follows a bounty hunter named Tracker who searches for a missing boy that's believed to be the potential heir to the throne, all while countering the political warfare threatening the empire he serves. Like most fantasy and science-fiction books, James's includes whimsical characters like a witch, a talking buffalo, a giant, and even a shape-shifter that all join Tracker on his quest.
In a recent interview with online book database Goodreads, James confirmed Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the first volume in his Dark Star trilogy. He also previously joked that the epic tale, which was just released on February 5, is the "African Game of Thrones."
Though the synopsis sounds similar to the plot of Black Panther, James, who won the coveted Man Booker Prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings, told Goodreads that he started writing Black Leopard, Red Wolf in 2015.
"I had already finished first and second drafts," James said. "And then I had to see it [Black Panther] to make sure my world doesn’t look like theirs and they’ll think I ripped it off."
With that in mind, Jordan's sci-fi experience makes him the perfect person to bring James's vision to life. And we can't wait to see what they have in store for us when the film eventually hits theaters.
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