Regina King has been professionally acting for over 35 years, appearing in movies like Jerry Maguire and Legally Blonde 2, and TV shows like 24 and Southland. But recently, King joined the club of actors who have also gone behind the camera to direct a movie, with the critically acclaimed One Night in Miami marking her feature filmmaking debut. Now King has found her next movie to bring to life, and it’s based on an Image Comics horror series.
Regina King will helm a cinematic adaptation of Bitter Root for Legendary Entertainment, the production company that most recently delivered Godzilla vs. Kong to the masses. Along with her directorial duties, THR mentioned that King will produce the Bitter Root alongside her sister Reina King through their Royal Ties banner. Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian are also producing through Proximity Media, and Bryan Edward Hill (who’s penning the next Power Rangers movie) rewriting the script.
Created by David F. Walker, Sanford Greene and Chuck Brown, the Bitter Root comic book series, which scored an Eisner nomination in 2019, is set in the 1920s during the Harlem Renaissance and follows the Sangeryes, who keep New York City and the rest of the world safe from supernatural forces. However, this once-great family of monster hunters has been torn apart by tragedies and conflict moral codes, and they must work to heal the wounds of their past and work past their differences if they’re going to save humanity from being eradicated by a new evil force.
Judging by the official statement that Legendary Entertainment put out, the Bitter Root movie will follow a similar premise rather than take the property in a drastically different direction, which makes sense given that David F. Walker, Sanford Greene and Chuck Brown are executive producing. Describing the upcoming feature as Get Out meets Blade, here’s what the company said:
For generations, the Sangeryes have hunted and cured those infected by a supernatural force that feeds off of prejudice and transforms humans into monsters. But with most of the family gone, the remaining Sangeryes disagree over saving or killing the monsters.
This will be Regina King’s second time working on a comic book media project, as she previously starred as Angela Abar, a.k.a. Sister Night, in HBO’s Watchmen series. However, it was undoubtedly her work on One Night in Miami that resulted in Legendary Entertainment deciding she was the one who should bring Bitter Root to the big screen. One Night in Miami starred Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X, Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke, with the movie delivering a fictionalized account of when the four men met each other in 1964. The movie scored three Academy Award nominations in the Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Song categories, among numerous other accolades.
Once more news about Bitter Root starts trickling in, including who will comprise the main cast, we’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, keep apprised of what’s coming out later this year with our upcoming 2021 movies schedule.
