Last April,The New York Timesran a feature aboutDenzel WashingtonandMichael B. Jordanunder the headline “Passing the Torch.” It was meant symbolically, but it may take on a deeper, more literal meaning soon, as Jordan is in talks to star in the Sony Pictures dramaA Journal for Jordan, which will be Washington’s next film as a director, Collider has learned.
A Journal for Jordantells the true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalistDana Canedy’s love affair withFirst Sergeant Charles Monroe King. King kept a journal full of poignant life lessons for their newborn son Jordan while deployed overseas. He was killed in Iraq in 2006 when Jordan was just seven months old, but his spirit lives on in his messages of love to Dana and Jordan.
Washington will direct from a script byVirgil Williams, the Oscar-nominated writer ofMudbound, who adapted Canedy’s bestselling 2008 memoir. Jordan is in talks to play First Sergeant King and produce via his Outlier Society banner, while Washington will also produce alongsideTodd Blackand his Escape Artists partnersJason BlumenthalandSteve Tisch.
Jordan is coming off the stunning success of Marvel’sBlack Panther, which grossed $1.3 billion worldwide before earning seven Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. Regardless of what happens on Sunday night,Black Panther’s place in the history books of cinema is secure. Jordan also recently starred inCreed II, which became the highest-grossing live-action film to ever open over Thanksgiving weekend. And, he earned his a PGA Award and his first Emmy nomination as an executive producer on the HBO movieFahrenheit 451, in which he starred oppositeMichael Shannon.
Jordan next stars inDestin Daniel Cretton’s legal dramaJust Mercyas a world-renowned civil rights defense attorney who fights to free a condemned death row prisoner. It’s the kind of role that could thrust him into the Oscar race next year. Jordan is also assembling a strong development slate that includes Lionsgate’s action-thrillerThe Silver Bear,which just landed an intriguing new director on Wednesday, as well as a remake of The Thomas Crown Affair and an adaptationTom Clancy’sWithout Remorse, which is being eyed as a potential franchise at Paramount.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s Outlier Society was one of the first production companies to publicly adopt the inclusion rider, and it has first-look deals for both film and television at Warner Bros. and Amazon Studios, respectively. It is developing several projects including an adaption of the popular fantasy novelBlack Leopard, Red Wolf, the WWII action dramaThe Liberators, and the hour-long sci-fi seriesRaising Dion. He’s represented by WME.
Washington’s directing credits includeAntwone Fisher,The Great DebatersandFences, and while he starred in all of those films, he is not expected to appear inA Journal for Jordan, at least as far as I know. Like Jordan, the Oscar-winning actor is also repped by WME.
