Aunjanue Ellis to Star in ‘The Nickel Boys’ for Director RaMell Ross and MGM’s Orion Pictures
thewrap.comOscar-nominated “King Richard” and “The Help” actress Aunjanue Ellis is set to star in a feature adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys” for writer-director RaMell Ross and MGM’s Orion Pictures.
The film will co-star Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater and Fred Hechinger. Along with Ross, Joslyn Barnes will write the script and produce on behalf of Louverture Films.Based on a true story, Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of Elwood Curtis, a Black boy growing up in 1960s Florida who has been unjustly shipped out to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy.
While navigating the institution’s many brutalities, he befriends another inmate named Turner. Their unlikely friendship and opposing worldviews eventually take them down a road of disastrous and long-lasting consequences.
In addition to Barnes, Plan B Entertainment and Anonymous Content will produce the film, with Whitehead serving as executive producer.
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