TRUE DETECTIVE Director and...John legend...Team Up For THE BLACK COUNT

 

Yes, you read that right, and yes it is *that* John Legend who sang 2008's hit "Green Light" and 2013's "All of You". Deadline reports that the acclaimed director of HBO's critically lauded series True Detective, Cary Fukunga, is teaming up with Legend's Get Lifted Film Co. partner Mike Jackson to tackle the award-winning biography of Thomas Alexandre Dumas, based on the 2012 novel The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, And The Real Count of Monte Cristo although I'd wager the title might be shortened a bit for when Sony releases the film.

“Cary’s exceptional talent as a writer/director will bring to life all of the action and drama that have made The Black Count such a compelling read,” Michael De Luca, who is overseeing the pic for Sony told me today. “He’s got a great take on the material and we’re thrilled to be working with him, John, Thais, Troy and Mike,” added the Columbia Pictures President of Production.

While the name might sound familiar, Dumas' son went on to write The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo which have both served as the basis for numerous Hollywood adaptions, most recently for 'Musketeers' in 2011 helmed by acclaimed auteur Paul W.S. Anderson (Pompeii, Resident Evil).

Deadline notes:

Born to a French nobleman and a slave woman of African descent, Dumas became the highest-ranking person of color to ever serve in any European army. A favorite of Napoleon for a time, Dumas was also the first non-white to become a brigadier general in the French military. Dumas’ exploits were used as the basis for the novels of his son Alexandre Dumas. Better known today than his father, the younger Dumas wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count Of Monte Cristo.

This could be the start of a resurgence in bio-pics, with The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrman helming Stanley Kubrick's passion project, Napoleon, for HBO.