HBO Adapting Ta-Nehisi Coates' 'Between The World & Me' For A New Special

Since the recent murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that have continued as a result, you may have been seeing quite a few book recommendations being shared for people looking to better understand the systemic racism that affects People of Color in the US in 2020. One of those books is probably “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Well, it appears that HBO is going to save some people the time of reading the book (even though they should anyway) and release a special based on the bestseller.

According to THR, HBO is developing a special based on the book, “Between the World and Me” by Coates. More specifically, the series is based on the stage show adaptation of the book, which played at the Apollo Theater. The new show will include readings from the book, documentary and archival footage, as well as animation, and will be directed by the executive producer of the stage show, Kamilah Forbes.

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“Between the World and Me” isn’t a memoir, in the strictest sense of the word, but is instead written as a letter from Coates to his teenage son about the author’s life growing up in Baltimore and dealing with the bigotry that followed him throughout his youth.

“I’ve been working with Kamilah almost as long as I’ve been a writer. I can think of no one better to put Between the World and Me on screen and no better home for it than HBO,” said Coates.

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HBO Programming president Casey Bloys added, “Ta-Nehisi’s book is a modern literary classic that provides an essential message for our times. We are tremendously proud to bring this incredibly important event to our audiences.”

It’s unclear when HBO plans on airing the new special, but obviously, the timing couldn’t be better. So, hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later.