Good Thursday Morning!
Notorious scribe, Cheo Hodari Coker, is becoming a very busy man. A week after the B.I.G. biopic opened in theatres across the country, the first-timer is reportedly now attached to write screenplays for 2 other feature-length films.
Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter stated that Coker has been hand-picked by mega-producer, Brian Grazer, to pen a drama set in the world of low-riding car culture, for Universal and Grazer's production shingle, Imagine.
The film will be aptly titled, Lowriders.
The project is based on an idea by Grazer, who is supposedly intrigued by the low-riding culture, unique to black and Latino communities - essentially, young men (mostly) who drive around in cars with adjusted suspension systems.
And this morning, The Hollywood Reporter also announced that Coker has been attached to adapt Bill Adler's Tougher Than Leather: The Rise of Run-DMC -- The Authorized Biography for DJ Classicz, the urban arm of Davis Entertainment. DJ Classicz president Dallas Jackson optioned the book recently and will produce with production partner John Davis.
Tougher will explore the history of hip-hop's first superstars: Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, who was shot to death in his Queens studio in 2002.
A timely event I suppose, as Run-DMC will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4.
"It's an extraordinary rags-to-riches journey that I'm eager to bring to the screen," Jackson said. "And I'm hoping to have Run, DMC and Russell Simmons' involvement. This will be a big movie about the 1980s hip-hop movement that took over the world."
A "big movie about the 1980s hip-hop movement" sounds ambitious, and he certainly has my attention. I grew up on hip-hop of the late 80s/early 90s, so I (and millions of others) have a vested interest in the production.
Don't screw it up!
Cheo Hodari Coker, for whom Notorious was his first attempt at screenwriting, was previously a journalist who wrote for Premiere, Vibe, Rolling Stone and Spin before transitioning to screenwriting. Looks like brothaman will be busy for awhile. Good for him!
I'm really glad a black screenwriter is getting jobs. Really! But I probably won't see any of those movies mentioned, they're just not my type. More power to him though. :)