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Exclusive: Jesse Collins Entertainment and Concord Originals are partnering on a biopic of Robert Johnson, the influential musician nicknamed the King of the Delta Blues.

The project will mark the first authorized narrative feature on Johnson, a figure famous for his culture-defining influence on rock legends like the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin. Ridgeway Wilson (Black Girls Rock!) is set to write the script.

Born in Mississippi in 1911, Johnson pursued his passion for music partly as a way to avoid the sharecropper lifestyle prescribed to him by the American South. He took the tortuous lifestyle that came with being a Black man in that time and place and transformed his personal experience into music of universal relevance and global reach. When he died at 27, allegedly murdered by the jealous boyfriend of a former lover, his few recordings debuted posthumously at Carnegie Hall. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,...

Exclusive: Universal Pictures has tapped scribes Chloe Castellón and Ridgeway Wilson to adapt the screenplay for the upcoming film City of Saints & Thieves, based on Natalie C. Anderson’s debut novel. Insecure‘s chief director and exec producer Melina Matsoukas is officially attached to direct the feature, which has Will Packer's Will Packer Productions and Kerry Washington's Simpson Street on board as producers. The story centers on the protagonist Tina, a girl who has…...

Film execs have voted for their favourite unproduced Us screenplays.

A script about Michael Jackson’s pet chimp Bubbles and a Moon-based roadtrip adventure are both on this year’s Black List of “most liked” unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.

The annual list, which was first published in 2005, surveys around 500 film executives on their favourite unmade scripts, with a typical response rate of 60%.

This year’s list features 81 screenplays, and was revealed in a series of Youtube videos hosted by the likes of Channing Tatum, Ava DuVernay and Lily James.

2015’s top screenplay is Isaac Adamson’s Bubbles, the story of the late pop star Michael Jackson’s life told through the narration of his pep chimp Bubbles.

Previous films on the list include Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech and Ben Affleck’s Argo, all of which went on to win best picture Oscars.

Spotlight and The...

Rounding up the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood, as voted on by hundreds of film executives, The Black List has been a strong resource to clue one in on projects to potentially anticipate, but first, to kickstart Hollywood on bringing them to screen. Last year’s chart-topper Catherine the Great is still waiting to be produced and today we have this year’s editiong

Topping the 2015 edition, we have Isaac Adamson‘s Bubbles, which tells the story of Michael Jackson through the strange perspective of his adopted baby chimp. Also included is the Boston Marathon bombing drama Stronger, which Jake Gyllenhaal was circling, and Miss Sloane, which has Jessica Chastain attached. So, as an early look for some potential upcoming films to keep on your radar, take a looked at the full, detailing list below, along with the number of votes each earned.

Bubbles by Isaac Adamson 44

A baby chimp...

The 2015 Black List, a collection of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays, was announced Monday through Twitter. This year's list, which featured 81 scripts, was revealed via YouTube videos featuring famous writers, directors and actors starting at 9 a.m. Pt Monday. Among the participants was Channing Tatum, Damon Lindelof, Danny Strong, Nick Hoult, Lily James and Ryan Coogler. Selma director Ava DuVernay kicked it off with the first script: An African Western by Ridgeway Wilson and Chloe Castellón. Bubbles, by Isaac Adamson, topped the list with 44 votes. It centers on a baby chimp that’s adopted by Michael Jackson. Three

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