John Boyega and Danielle Deadwyler are set to portray late soul legend Otis Redding and his widow Zelma Redding in Fifth Season’s forthcoming biopic “Otis & Zelma.”
Directed by breakout filmmaker Channing Godfrey Peoples and produced by Fifth Season, Homegrown Pictures and Kinfolk Management + Media, the music-based film chronicles the life of Otis Redding, who is considered to be one of the most impactful singer-songwriters of our lifetime, with indelible hits including “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” “Respect,” “These Arms of Mine,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and “Hard to Handle.” Redding’s burgeoning superstar career was tragically cut short when he died in a 1967 plane crash, leaving behind Zelma and three young children. He was 26 years old.
With revisions by Godfrey Peoples, “Otis & Zelma” is written by acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and actress Donnetta Lavinia Grays. The film “celebrates the 10 short years Otis and Zelma had together, and their eternal love story after his passing,” explains an early synopsis of the project. “Zelma’s resilience and determination to preserve his musical legacy for the last 56 years fuels her, just as much as Otis’ love for Zelma fueled him.”
News of the movie, which has the full support of Zelma Redding and the Otis Redding estate, comes as Otis will be posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Oct. 4. Fifth Season is producing the project alongside Stephanie Allain of Homegrown Pictures and Arron Saxe of Kinfolk Management + Media. Amos Newman, Homegrown Pictures’ Claire Brooks, Boyega, and Deadwyler will executive produce.
Boyega is best known for starring as Finn in the latest “Star Wars” trilogy and, in 2021, won a Golden Globe award for his performance in Steve McQueen’s Emmy-nominated miniseries “Small Axe.” Since his breakout turn in the BAFTA-nominated, 2011 sci-fi film “Attack the Block,” Boyega has built a stellar resume of major films including “They Cloned Tyrone,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” “Breaking” and “Pacific Rim: Uprising.”
Deadwyler is best known for her portrayal of Emmitt Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley in the acclaimed 2022 film “Till,” for which she won the outstanding lead performance prize at the Gotham Awards and the breakthrough performance award from the National Board of Review, among other awards and nominations from BAFTA, the Screen Actors Guild and the Critics Choice Association. She also received an Independent Spirit TV award nomination for her work in the HBO limited series “Station Eleven.” She’s currently garnering awards buzz for her work opposite Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington in the feature adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” for Netflix. She’ll next appear in the Netflix action-thriller “Carry On,” directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and stars in and executive produces the Blumhouse and Universal Pictures’ thriller “The Women in the Yard.”
Godfrey Peoples’ writing and directorial feature debut, 2020’s “Miss Juneteenth,” starring Emmy nominee Nicole Beharie, won the National Board of Review Award for best directorial debut, as well as the SXSW Louis Black “Lone Star” award. The film was also nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Godfrey Peoples has since directed episodes of series including the Emmy-winning drama anthology “Genius” and the Apple TV+ anthology “Roar.”
Boyega is represented by UTA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Deadwyler is represented by Paradigm, Play Management and Ziffren Brittenham. Godfrey Peoples is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360 and Victoria S. Cook.
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