Antoine Fuqua to Direct ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ with All-Black Cast

Antoine Fuqua is a very busy man. The director, known for films like Training Day and The Equalizer, has two films set for release in 2021 – the sci-fi action film Infinite starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor and the Netflix remake of The Guilty starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ethan Hawke – and he’s already lining up his next feature. 

This next project is going to be a major change of pace for the filmmaker who has spent most of his career in the world of action movies. Fuqua is set to direct and produce an adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which will feature an all-Black cast, similar to the 2008 Broadway production. 

That production starred Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad, and James Earl Jones. No casting for the film has been announced as of yet. 

Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, producers of the Broadway show, are also on board this new project, with Fuqua stating, “Bringing such a historic production to the screen is an honor I am thrilled to have alongside Stephen and Alia. 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 1958 film adaptation of the Williams play, starring Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, garnered 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and nods for the two leads, so it will certainly be interesting to see how this new version will be received – and how Fuqua will take to working in such unique territory for him.