Dee Rees has found her new project. Even though her most recent film, “The Last Thing He Wanted,” has yet to be released (coming to Netflix on February 21), the director has already lined up a new project with MGM, an adaptation of the American opera, “Porgy and Bess.”
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According to Deadline, Rees will write and direct the adaptation, which is based on the opera and novel (written by DuBose Heyward). The plot follows a disabled beggar named Porgy, who is living on the streets of Charleston, as he attempts to rescue Bess from her violent lover Crown and drug dealer Sportin’ Life. The novel was released in 1925, and over the last 95 years has been adapted in various plays and a 1959 film from director Otto Preminger. That film had an incredible cast that includes Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandrige, and Sammy Davis, Jr.
“‘Porgy and Bess’ is at its core, a love story,” Rees said. “So I’m very excited to take on the challenge of this highly venerated, iconic material and lift the architecture of this unlikely love story and re-site it at a place and moment of resistance. With the help of a terrific artistic team, my vision is to invest this community with a new agency and re-locate the characters from a fictional landscape mostly viewed from the outside to a real geography with actual historical and cultural roots, relevance, and consequence and that has been built and lived from the inside.”
She continued, “By accessing the spirit of the lyrics as they’ve been conjured, reinterpreted, and rearranged by greats like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, I’m most excited about inviting today’s brightest musical talents to lend new voice and spirit to both the joys and the frustrations of the ongoing struggle of African American citizens in this country. In this new adaptation, I’m hoping to raise the stakes for our hero and heroine, giving them full expression of existence placing emphasis not just on the circumstantial but on their rich inner lives and emotional pasts. It’s thrilling to work with the legendary producer, Irwin Winkler, and the visionary team at MGM Studios and be a part of the studio’s rich musical legacy.”
There’s no word on a release date at this time. “Porgy and Bess” isn’t the only film that Rees has in development. She’s also said to be working on a musical with the singer Santigold, titled “The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies.” Previously, Rees earned an Oscar nomination for her film, “Mudbound.”
