Bow and Arrow has acquired Richard Wright’s classic novel Native Son, which will be adapted into a movie by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Suzan-Lori Parks and helmed by artist and photographer Rashid Johnson in his feature directorial debut.
Native Son was first published in 1940 to much success, making Wright one of the most prominent African-American voices of the era.
The novel follows Bigger Thomas, a 20-year-old African-American growing up in poverty on the South Side of Chicago.
Bow and Arrow partners Matthew Perniciaro and Michael Sherman will produce the film, with Malcolm Wright and Julia Wright serving as consultants on behalf of Wright’s estate.
Parks was the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer for drama, nfor her award-winning play Topdog/Underdog.
Parks also received the MacArthur Foundation genius grant and wrote the screenplays for Spike Lee’s “Girl 6” and the adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
Johnson is one of the most celebrated fine artists of his generation, with museum exhibitions across the world. His work explores the contemporary, African-American experience.
In 2016, he was appointed to the board of trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, the first artist to be given the honor in nearly 40 years.
