We haven’t had a proper If Beale Street Could Talk since its release eight years ago—unless, of course, you count Mufasa: The Lion King, a Disney “live-action” Lion King riff that stripped Jenkins of much of his auteurial voice.
A promising update for all you Jenkins fans: his gifted cinematographer, James Laxton, told The Playlist that he’s getting ready to shoot not one, but two Jenkins projects, with the first set to go into production as early as this fall.
The next thing for me is likely another Barry Jenkins project that’s intending to shoot in the fall. If not the fall, it’s going to be early next year, but nothing about them is secret. I’m going to be a bit cagey about them because we don’t know when they started and we don’t know which one’s going to go first. So, I’m not going to spill too many beans, but there’s supposed to be some films in the fall or next year from Barry that we will hope to see on the screen in 2027.
What these two projects might be remains undisclosed, but I gather it’s not Barry Jenkins’s Amazon/MGM-produced sci-fi “The Natural Order,” starring Glen Powell, which I last heard has been put on the back burner for now.
“The Intuitionist,” based on The Intuitionist—the first novel by Colson Whitehead, might be one of them—and, more pertinently, Jenkins’ A24-backed Ronnie Spector biopic, “Be My Baby.”
A few weeks ago, Zendaya briefly mentioned “Be My Baby” to Elle Magazine, saying the project has “been a long time coming,” and that the film will be “more experimental than a traditional biopic.” A fall shoot makes sense, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the promo Zendaya will have to do for Dune: Part Three in December.
Jenkins, one of the most acclaimed indie filmmakers of the last 10 years, is most known for his Oscar-winning “Moonlight,” a 2017 best picture winner. Not his biggest fan, but I do respect his artistry — especially when he frames those gorgeous close-ups.
Jenkins’ last film was “Mufasa,” a peculiar big studio venture for him. He was accused of “selling out” after hopping onboard the Disney-backed prequel, and he shot back at his critics, a few times, including on social media (“Bruh, What Kind of Logic is That?"). A few months later, he would admit that his experience shooting the VFX-heavy movie was “not my thing.”
Jenkins will now try to cleanse himself of the stench of “Mufasa” that must have surely been left behind; two smaller-scale films are coming up for him.