Jeymes Samuel‘s ‘Book Of Clarence’ Taps LaKeith Stanfield And Omar Sy To Star; Legendary Producing
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EXCLUSIVE: Following the critical acclaim of his Netflix western The Harder They Fall, Jeymes Samuel’s follow-up, The Book of Clarence, has gained momentum with a new producing partner and two major stars to lead the ensemble. Sources tell Deadline that Legendary has acquired the BAFTA Award winner’s next film project with LaKeith Stanfield (Atlanta) and Omar Sy (Lupin) set to star.
The film is an original project that Samuel wrote and will direct, produce and compose. Plot details are being kept under wraps other then it being set during the bible era with Stanfield playing Clarence.
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James Lassiter, Shawn Carter and Tendo Nagenda will produce the film. This marks the second time all three will collaborate on a Samuel film, with Lassiter and Carter joining Samuel as a producer on The Harder they Fall, while former Netflix exec Nagenda oversaw the production at the streamer.
Samuel’s voice and tone were on full display with his new take on the western in The Harder They Fall which featured an all-star cast of Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz and Regina King. Samuel earned strong praise when it premiered and the industry became intrigued by what was next up for the multi-hyphenate. Samuel first broke the news in an interview with Deadline that this would likely be his next project and Legendary moved fast to acquire the rights.
Here was how Samuel’s described what he was hoping for in the interview:
“You remember those biblical epics, whether they were about the Bible or just taking place around it, from The Ten Commandments to The Greatest Story Ever Told, Samson and Delilah and Ben-Hur, which runs alongside all that stuff in the Bible? As will be The Book of Clarence, a full fun-filled extravaganza. It’s written and ready to go, and set in 29 AD.”
The project reunites Samuel and Stanfield, who was featured as a villainous gunslinger in The Harder They Fall. Stanfield can currently be seen in the final season of the hit FX show Atlanta. His upcoming projects include the Apple TV+ series The Changeling which he stars in and executive produced and Disney’s The Haunted Mansion. He is repped by CAA, Stark Management, and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.
Sy rocketed to international stardom with his performance in 2011’s French smash The Intouchables, for which he was awarded the César for Best Actor, becoming the first Black actor to do so. He stars in Netflix’s Lupin, one of the streamer’s most-watched non-English-language series, which has been renewed for a third chapter. His film Father and Soldier debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and will be released in France this fall. Sy stars in the project, which is also the first from his Korokoro production banner. He recently completed production on Lionsgate’s Shadow Force and is set to star in Peacock’s The Killer. He is represented by CAA and Agence Adequat in France, as well as attorney Warren Dern at Sloane Offer Weber & Dern.
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