Viola Davis Attached To Star In 'The Fighting Shirley Chisholm' For Amazon Studios

[demmiblue]

EXCLUSIVE: Days after Oscar winner Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions announced a first look feature production deal with Amazon Studios, the first project is moving forward: The Fighting Shirley Chisholm in which Davis will produce and star as the U.S. Representative who was both the first woman and the first person of color to seek a major American political party’s nomination for President.

Amazon studios acquired the title in what we understand was a fierce bidding war, with Homegrown Pictures’ Stephanie Allain (Hustle & Flow, Dear White People) and Mel Jones producing with JuVee. Maggie Betts (Novitiate) will direct the screenplay written by Emmy-nominated writer Adam Countee (Silicon Valley, Community, Mindy Project).

Countee had long been interested in telling Chisholm’s story and his research led him to write the feature script on spec about the trailblazing congresswoman who never backed down as her bid drew ridicule and bigoted backlash. Chisholm ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968 from New York’s 12th congressional district and became the first black woman elected to Congress. In January 1972 she announced her presidential bid in a Baptist church in her Brooklyn district. That election ended with George McGovern getting the Democratic nomination and losing to incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon.

https://deadline.com/2018/11/viola-davis-the-fighting-shirley-chisholm-amazon-studios-movie-1202510762/

[Cuthbert Allgood]

1. She is incredible. Saw Widows a couple days ago

and she kicked serious ass in that movie. And Steve McQueen needs to keep making more movies.

[JudyM]

2. A little late, but big K&R on this.

Viola Davis is a favorite of mine ever since her silent emotional tour de force in that one scene she had in Antwone Fisher.
I could only find part of the scene to post:
https://m.