Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight cast has been officially announced as production begins in Miami
A24 has announced that production has begun on their upcoming feature film, Moonlight. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, Moonlight is shooting in Miami, Florida, the city in which the story takes place. A24 has partnered with Plan B (12 Years A Slave, Selma) and Adele Romanski to produce the film, which is Jenkins’ follow up to his recent Medicine for Melancholy. A24 is fully financing and owns worldwide rights. The company is planning a fall 2016 theatrical release.
Jenkins will be directing Moonlight from his own script, based on the play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” by MacArthur Fellow Tarell McCraney. Moonlight tells the story of Chiron, a young man who comes of age during “War on Drugs” era Miami. Structured in three different time periods – the most pivotal moments of Chiron’s fraught quarter-life, battling a deteriorating home life and his dawning sexuality – the film aims for a radical depiction of modern masculinity.
The Moonlight cast is set to include Naomie Harris (Mandela, Southpaw, and forthcoming James Bond film SPECTRE), André Holland (Selma, “The Knick”), and Mahershala Ali (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 1 & 2, “House of Cards” and the forthcoming film The Free State of Jones) coming aboard the project for director Jenkins. Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe will also be making her big screen debut for Moonlight.
Additionally, the filmmakers did an extensive open casting call in local schools and colleges in the Miami area. Alex R. Hibbert and Jaden Piner are both local performers who will be featured in the film; Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, and Jharrel Jerome will round out the cast of Moonlight.
(Photo Credit: Joe / PNP / Brian To / WENN.com)
