Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua has reportedly been roped in to direct a film adaptation of the American playwright Tennessee Williams’ 1950s play ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, which was also revived in the superhit 2008 Broadway production.
Besides, this is not the first time the play is being adapted for a motion picture. Back in 1958, Richard Brooks helmed the Pulitzer prize-winning play of the same name starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, and Burl Ives.
The play was adapted again for the 1984 TV film of the same name starring Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Lange and Rip Torn. The original play essentially revolved around the relationship between a rich businessman Big Daddy’s son Brick and his wife Maggie.
Antoine Fuqua’s recently announced film adaptation will reportedly integrate the play’s ingredients with new storylines and will put them together for the planned motion picture.
Regarding the film adaption and collaborating with the 2008 Broadway producers, Antoine Fuqua had stated, “Bringing such a historic production to the screen is an honor I am thrilled to have alongside Stephen and Alia. 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.”
Antoine Fuqua is well known for making clever action and thriller films. His first directorial debut was with the 1998 action film ‘The Replacement Killers’. Subsequently, he directed Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in the critically and commercially successful crime thriller ‘Training Day’. Washington had even bagged the ‘Best Actor’ Academy Award for his role in the film.
Later, Fuqua went on to make the war-drama film ‘Tears of the Sun’, ‘King Arthur’, ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ and ‘Olympus has Fallen’. In the year 2014, he reunited with Denzel Washington for another action flick ‘The Equalizer’, which was later followed by a sequel co-starring ‘Narcos’ actor Pedro Pascal. He also helmed the hit boxing film ‘Southpaw’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
In addition to being relished by the audience, Fuqua’s above-mentioned action-thriller films mostly performed quite well at the box office too. So, it would be interesting to see the filmmaker’s foray into a relatively new territory.
Fuqua’s upcoming science-fiction action film titled ‘Infinite’ starring Mark Wahlberg is set to release later this year. Besides, he has directed another thriller ‘The Guilty’ featuring his former collaborators Jake Gyllenhaal and Ethan Hawke.