Trayvon Martin’s life and the controversy sparked by his untimely death will be commemorated in two upcoming projects by Jay Z and The Weinstein Company, Vanity Fair reports exclusively.
Jay Z and the mini-major studio won a “heated bidding war” for rights to adapt two written works for the screen, according to the outlet. They are 2014’s Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It and, published in January, Rest in Power: A Parents’ Story of Love, Injustice, and the Birth of a Movement.
The unarmed 17-year-old Martin was killed in February 2012 by a volunteer neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman, who claimed he shot the Florida high schooler in self-defense. The shooting sparked protests in cities around the country, but Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in July 2013.
Suspicion Nation, written by journalist Lisa Bloom who covered the shooting case for NBC, is sharply critical of Florida prosecutors’ handling of the case as it follows news coverage. Rest in Power is a personal account of the teen’s life and death by Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, who now advocate against gun violence.
Variety reports that Weinstein Company execs Harvey Weinstein and David Glasser had a “marathon meeting” last month with Jay Z and Martin’s parents, who were most concerned with seeing their son’s life honored.
A timeframe for the release of either project has yet to be shared.
Before You Go
