Given that Barry Jenkins wrote the screenplay for If Beale Street Could Talk at the same time he was working on Moonlight, it’s no surprise that the trailer for his upcoming film looks pretty Oscar worthy already. Written and directed by Jenkins, the film will be his third (after 2008’s indie, Medicine For Melancholy), arriving before his mooted hijack thriller starring Chadwick Boseman.
Featuring minimal dialogue and maximum emotion, the trailer makes the new film look like a gritty, beautiful, ’70s set ode to Terrence Malick.
If Beale Street Could Talk tells the tale of Tish (newcomer Kiki Layne) as she falls in love with a sculptor named Fonny (Stephan James of Race), who is falsely accused of a crime for which he is imprisoned. As Tish learns she is pregnant with their child, their families fight to prove Fonny’s innocence and free him before the baby is born. The trailer features of the voice of original author James Baldwin from the documentary, I Am Not Your Negro.
As reported prior to production, Jenkins was pleased to take on the task of adapting If Beale Street Could Talk for the screen. “James Baldwin is a man of and ahead of his time; his interrogations of the American consciousness have remained relevant to this day,” Jenkins told Variety. “To translate the power of Tish and Fonny’s love to the screen in Baldwin’s image is a dream I’ve long held dear. Working alongside the Baldwin Estate, I’m excited to finally make that dream come true.”
If Beale Street Could Talk releases sometime in the autumn of 2018.