Antoine Fuqua To Direct ‘Cat On A Hot Tin Roof’ Film With Black Cast – Deadline

Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Magnificent Seven) will direct and produce a film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams’ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof based on the 2008 Broadway production featuring an all-Black cast.

The Broadway producers Stephen C. Byrd & Alia Jones-Harvey are also aboard the project.

The 2008 staging made history with a sold out 19-week run as the first all African-American production of the Broadway classic as well as the biggest grossing play during that season. Fuqua will produce the film via his production company, Fuqua Films, and Byrd & Jones-Harvey through Front Row Productions.

Casting has not been announced.

The 2008 Broadway production, directed by Debbie Allen, starred Terrence Howard in his Broadway debut alongside Tony Award winners Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones.  The film version will combine elements of the classic play with new storylines.

“Bringing such a historic production to the screen is an honor I am thrilled to have alongside Stephen and Alia,” said Fuqua. “They have shown their commitment to the project with two successful stagings on Broadway and the West End and know what it takes to translate this iconic drama from theatre to cinema.”

The Broadway production was also staged in a successful production on London’s West End, where it won The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival of A Play. The 20-week run production played to sellout audiences that were, producers said, overwhelmingly new to the West End (a study conducted by the theatre owner reported that 78 percent of the buyers were new attendees).

“We set out to produce groundbreaking, high caliber work on both Broadway and London’s West End with iconic plays, and now we hope to replicate this with Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, as a film,” the producers said in a joint statement. “We are thrilled to be able to bring this Tennessee Williams’ classic play to life once again in a new iteration with the acclaimed Antoine Fuqua at the helm.”

Fuqua’s film credits include Training Day, The Magnificent Seven and The Equalizer. Through his production company, Fuqua Films, he generates content for both film and television. Most recently, he directed and executive produced the documentary What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali for HBO, and produced Quibi’s #FreeRayshawn, starring Laurence Fishburne and Stephan James. The series won a 2021 NAACP Image Award. Fuqua’s next film is Paramount’s Infinite, starring Mark Wahlberg.

Fuqua is represented by LBI Entertainment and Matt Johnson and Brian Lazarus at Ziffren Brittenham. Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey are repped by Darrell D Miller at Fox Rothschild, LLP.