Regina King to make directorial debut with adaptation of Cassius Clay-Malcolm X play One Night in Miami

Oscar winner Regina King is making her directorial debut with the film adaptation of Cassius Clay-Malcolm X play One Night in Miami.

The film is a take on Kemp Powers’ debut play, which finds young boxer Cassius Clay, activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown hanging out together at a Miami motel, reported Deadline .

The story, which takes place on the evening of February 25, 1964, revolves around the four men who end up baring their true selves. The story follows a young Cassius Clay as he emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Center as the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Despite all odds, he defeats Sonny Liston and stuns the world of boxing. While hundreds of people gather at the Miami Beach to celebrate the win, Clay — unable to stay on the island because of Jim Crow-era segregation laws — spends the night at the Hampton House Motel in Miami’s Overtown neighbourhood. He celebrates the night with three of his friends: activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown. The next morning, the men emerge determined to define a new world.

In One Night in Miami, Powers who will pen the screenplay from the original material, and will highlight exactly what occurred during those pivotal hours. The film will also feature the music of Cooke, and his popular song, ‘A Change Is Gonna Come,’ as the film offers a narrative for the evening, where the four men, strip bare and reveal who they really were.

The film will be bankrolled by Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder’s Snoot Entertainment known for Blindspotting, Little Monsters and Jody Klein’s ABKCO.

On the acting front, King will next feature in HBO’s Watchmen series by Damon Lindelof. For her last major appearance, she won the Academy Award for the Best Supporting Actress in If Beale Street Could Talk .