FOX is developing an as-yet untitled series for The Perfect Guy‘s Sanaa Lathan. Set in Tennessee, in the midst of a racially charged situation, Lathan’s character will investigate a black police officer who shoots an unarmed white teen.
Here’s the FOX press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
SANAA LATHAN (“THE PERFECT GUY”) TO STAR IN NEW EVENT SERIES BEING DEVELOPED BY FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) is developing an explosive new event series from Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Beyond the Lights,” “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Love & Basketball”) and Reggie Rock Bythewood (“Beyond the Lights,” “Notorious”), that examines the dangerous aftermath of a police shooting when an African-American cop kills a white teen in Tennessee.
The UNTITLED GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD PROJECT, from 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television, will star Sanaa Lathan. Fresh off her leading role in the No. 1 film – “The Perfect Guy” – Lathan will play an expert investigator who digs into the case, alongside a special prosecutor (to be announced) sent to the town by the Department of Justice. The pair must navigate the media attention, public debate and the social unrest that comes with such a volatile case, as they seek justice before the divided town erupts in a race war.
The project is written and executive-produced by Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood. Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo also will serve as executive producers. Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct.
Sanaa Lathan most recently starred in the hit feature thriller “The Perfect Guy,” opposite Michael Ealy and Morris Chestnut. She next will be seen in “Now You See Me 2,” the sequel to the 2013 thriller starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo and Woody Harrelson. She also is set to star in and executive-produce the upcoming feature adaptation of Omar Tyree’s best-selling young adult “Flyy Girl” trilogy, and she recently wrapped production on the independent sci-fi feature “Ad Inexplorata,” starring opposite Mark Strong and Luke Wilson. Lathan starred in the hit feature “The Best Man Holiday,” and will be seen in the franchise’s upcoming installment, “The Best Man Wedding.” On stage, she recently starred in the New York and Los Angeles productions of “By The Way, Meet Vera Stark,” and as “Maggie the Cat” in the London production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Lathan first gained attention starring in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2000 feature film “Love & Basketball.” That same year, she also starred in Prince-Bythewood’s cable movie “Disappearing Acts,” based on author Terry McMillan’s best-selling novel. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Lathan provided the voice of “Cleveland Brown’s” wife, “Donna Tubbs,” on FOX’s FAMILY GUY spin-off, “The Cleveland Show.”
Lathan is represented by ICM and Stephen Barnes of Morris, Yorn, Barnes, Levine, Krintzman, Rubenstein, Kohner & Gellman. Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood are represented by CAA and attorneys Gordon M. Bobb and Nina Shaw at Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano. Imagine Television is represented by CAA.
The UNTITLED GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD PROJECT will be produced by Undisputed Cinema and Imagine Television, in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The story was co-written by Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood. The project will be executive-produced by Gina Prince-Bythewood, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo.
What do you think? Does the twist on this ripped-from-the-headlines story make you want to tune in or tune out? Are you a Sanaa Lathan fan?
