Angela Bassett & Courtney B. Vance Ink First-Look Deal With 20th TV, Set ‘Monkey Boy’ Drama At Onyx

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: 20th Television has closed a first-look deal with Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance and their Bassett Vance Productions to develop and executive produce comedy, drama, limited series and TV movies for linear networks and streamers, with an emphasis on platforms across Disney Entertainment Television.

The first project under the multi-year pact is Monkey Boy, inspired by bestselling author Francisco Goldman’s Pulitzer Prize fiction finalist novel, which has been set up for development at Onyx Collective.

The drama is created by Joshua Allen Griffith (Mrs. America), who will write the pilot script, with Ben Smith supervising. If Monkey Boy goes to series, the duo, who met on 20th TV’s Hulu series Only Murders In The Building where they co-wrote multiple episodes, will write it, with Smith serving as showrunner.

Griffith and Smith also executive produce with Bassett Vance Productions. Goldman’s novel follows an investigative journalist who discovers a connection between a political assassination in Central America and an unsolved murder in his hometown, the Latino enclave of East Boston, forcing him to confront a history of childhood trauma that he’s been running from his entire life. “Angela and Courtney are deeply thoughtful storytellers, with incredible intellect and insight, and true ability to unearth distinct, relevant and unique material that reflects the human experience and the world in which we live,” said Karey Burke, president of 20th Television, a part of Disney TV Studios. “Their indelible work bringing characters to life on 20th Television series over the years has been remarkable, and we are thrilled to embark on this next creative chapter with them.” The first-look agreement builds on