Ta-Nehisi Coates Writing a New Superman Film for DC and Warner Bros.

Ta-Nehisi Coates will write a new Superman film for DC Films and Warner Bros.

The project is in very early development, but the new film is being produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot. Hannah Minghella will also produce. There is no director attached to the project at this time and the search for an actor to play Kal-El / Superman has not yet begun.

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“To be invited into the DC Extended Universe by Warner Bros., DC Films and Bad Robot is an honor,” Coates said in a statement. “I look forward to meaningfully adding to the legacy of America’s most iconic mythic hero.”

“There is a new, powerful and moving Superman story yet to be told. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with the brilliant Mr. Coates to help bring that story to the big screen, and we’re beyond thankful to the team at Warner Bros. for the opportunity,” Abrams stated.

Coates is the acclaimed author of bestsellers including “Between the World and Me,” “The Beautiful Struggle,” “We Were Eight Years in Power,” and “The Water Dancer.”

“Ta-Nehisi Coates’s ‘Between the World and Me’ opened a window and changed the way many of us see the world,” said Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. “We’re confident that his take on Superman will give fans a new and exciting way to see the Man of Steel.”

The new Superman project is not the author’s first foray into the superhero realm. Coates also wrote the Marvel comic book series for “Captain America” and “Black Panther,” with his run writing the latter saga ending in April.

News of Coates’ attachment to the superhero project comes amid a number of recent Hollywood projects and adaptations of the author’s work. “Between the World and Me” was adapted into an HBO film which debuted last November, while “The Water Dancer” is getting a big-screen adaptation from a producing team that includes Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt.

Shadow and Act was first to report the news.

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