He's more known for the crime/action-orientated likes of Olympus Has Fallen, The Equalizer films and Training Day, but Antoine Fuqua has a new version of a classic story in his crosshairs. He'll direct a fresh adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.
Williams' play focuses on Brick, a former athlete turned alcoholic, his sexually-frustrated wife Maggie and Big Daddy, the ailing and wealthy family patriarch.
Fuqua will work alongside producers Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, who backed a 2008 revival of the show, one that made history as the first Broadway production with an entirely African-American cast. It was the highest-grossing play that season and ended up transferring to the West End here in the UK.
"Bringing such a historic production to the screen is an honor I am thrilled to have alongside Stephen and Alia," said Fuqua in a statement carried by Variety. "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 play has been brought to the screen before, of course, most notably by Richard Brooks in 1958, with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman starring. That one was nominated for six Oscars, so... no pressure.