Director Ryan Coogler has partnered with Chris D. King's MACRO production company to produce an upcoming film about a real black panther, civil rights leader Fred Hampton.
According to Deadline, the movie Jesus Was My Homeboy will document the demise of Fred Hampton. The film is said to focus mostly on the psyche of William O'Neal who is the informant that helped the FBI conspire against Hampton. It is also noted that Jesus Was My Homeboy will explain why the agency felt the need to infiltrate the Black Panther Party. In addition to Coogler and MACRO, Warner Bros. is in talks with Sorry to Bother You's Lakeith Stanfield to play William O'Neal while Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya is rumored to assume the role of Fred Hampton.
Originally ruled as a justified homicide, Fred Hampton was just 21 years old when he was murdered by the FBI. Yet, even by this young age, he had ascended to the position of chairman of the Black Panther Party's Illinois chapter. As a result, numerous posthumous investigations were waged into the 1969 police raid that killed Hampton and fellow Panther Mark Clark, switching the ruling to a state-sponsored assassination. It is said that O'Neal was tormented by the role he played in Hampton's death, possibly leading him to his suicide in 1990. It is for this reason that scriptwriters Will Berson and Shaka King chose to emphasize O'Neal's character.
Jesus Was My Homeboy adds to both Coogler's and Stanfield's pending projects. Coogler is producing the highly anticipated Space Jam 2 while Lakeith Stanfield could star in the remake of the classic horror movie Candyman.
