Dramas both big and small sometimes like to yank their subject matter from the headlines, and indie pic Fruitvale is no exception. The film, which will follow the story of a young black man gunned down by police in 2009, has snagged the services of Octavia Spencer and Chronicle’s Michael B Jordan.
Ryan Coogler is making his film debut writing and directing the movie, which will track what happened to Oscar Grant (Jordan, assuming he makes a deal), who was held on New Year’s Day '09 by San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit police force at the titular station, before being shot in the back and killed. The incident was captured on the mobile phone cameras of many other passengers and the ensuing reports and trial caused protests and riots.
Once everything is in place, Coogler intends to start filming this July.
Spencer, fresh from winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Help, is in final negotiations to play Grant’s mother. She’s got a busy schedule at the moment, having just finished work on Diablo Cody’s untitled directing debut and heading from there to Joon-ho Bong’s sci-fi Snowpiercer.
Jordan has been seen in the likes of **Red Tails **and is reuniting with TV writer-producer Jason Katims (who he worked with on both Friday Night Lights and Parenthood) for a new hospital series pilot, County.