Jay Z, Will Smith, Collaborating with HBO for Emmett Till Miniseries

The tragic murder of Emmett Till, the young African-American boy who was accused of openly flirting with a white woman has remained one of the most starkly brutal racially-charged crime of our time.

Till, who was only 14 at the time, allegedly made a pass at 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, a grocery store owner who happened to be white. The story goes that once Bryant’s husband Roy heard about the incident, he and his half-brother, J.W. Milam headed over to the house of the teen’s great uncle and forced him away. Once Till was in their custody, the two men proceeded to attack the teen, and based on injuries he sustained – it was confirmed that one of his eyes were gouged out and he was shot in the head. Afterwards, his body was thrown in the Tallahatchie River.
Till’s condition when found was so jarring that his family insisted on an open casket at his funeral for the purpose of exposing how he was callously murdered.
Jay-Z and Will Smith were pitched the idea for a miniseries about Till’s life by Aaron Kaplan, the CEO of Kapital Entertainment the two superstars immediately expressed interest which isn’t surprising considering the draw of being able to breathe life into story that still resonates with the present climate of racial discourse.
HBO will serve as the platform for the six-hour offering, and Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation will help bring the untitled project to fruition.
No writer has been attached yet which means this could take some time to develop but this definitely one to keep a close watch on.