The official American Fiction photos for Orion Pictures’ upcoming film adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel Erasure has been revealed through Vanity Fair. The movie will be having its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It will then have its theatrical release in select theaters on November 3, followed by its wide release on November 17.
The photos provide the first look at the star-studded cast including Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, Erica Alexander, and Issa Rae. One of the photos also features Emmy-wining scribe Cord Jefferson (Watchmen) as he makes his feature directorial debut.
What is American Fiction about?
“Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison is a respected author and professor of English literature. But his impatience with his students’ cultural sensitivities is threatening his academic standing, while his latest novel is failing to attract publishers; they claim Monk’s writing ‘isn’t Black enough,'” reads the synopsis (via TIFF). “He travels to his hometown of Boston to participate in a literary festival where all eyes are on the first-time author of a bestseller titled We’s Lives In Da Ghetto, a book Monk dismisses as pandering to readers seeking stereotypical stories of Black misery. Meanwhile, Monk’s family experiences tragedy, and his ailing mother requires a level of care neither he nor his trainwreck of a brother (Sterling K. Brown) can afford.”
“One night, in a fit of spite, Monk concocts a pseudonymous novel embodying every Black cliché he can imagine. His agent submits it to a major publisher who immediately offers the biggest advance Monk’s ever seen. As the novel is rushed to the printers and Hollywood comes courting, Monk must reckon with a monster of his own making.”
Described as a “wickedly smart satire,” American Fiction is also adapted by Jefferson. Additional cast includes John Ortiz (Fast & Furious), Leslie Uggams (Deadpool), Adam Brody (Shazam!), Keith David (Nope), and Myra Lucretia Taylor (Tina). Executive producers are Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman, Percival Everett, and Michael Bowes, with Jefferson, Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, and Jermaine Johnson producing.
