Antoine Fuqua (Magnificent Seven, Training Day) will direct a new film version of the Tennessee Williams classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Fuqua will produce the film with Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, who were also behind the 2008 revival of the Williams classic, which was directed by Emmy winner Debbie Allen and featured Terrence Howard, James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, and Anika Noni Rose. That production, which played a sold-out 19-week run, made history as the first all-African-American production of that title on Broadway and the highest-grossing play of that season.
Byrd and Jones-Harvey’s production later transferred to London’s West End, where it won the Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play. The cast included Adrian Lester and Sanaa Lathan.
The film version will combine elements of the play with new storylines. Fuqua will produce via Fuqua Films and Byrd and Jones-Harvey through Front Row Productions.
“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.”
"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. 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," added Byrd and Jones-Harvey.
