HBO Unveils Star-Studded Cast for Adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates' 'Between The World and Me'

Ta-Nehisi Coates' critically-acclaimed 2015 book is getting its own HBO special this fall.

HBO has announced the cast for an upcoming adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Pulitzer-nominated book, Between The World and Me.

According to Variety, not-just-TV has wrangled a star-studded roster for their take on a theatrical production of the book that premiered at The Apollo Theater in 2018. The cast includes Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett, Phylicia Rashad, Black Lives Matter founder, Alicia Garza, and The Roots' Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, with additional casting slated to be announced in the weeks ahead. Kamilah Forbes will direct the special with Susan Kelechi Watson, Roger Ross Williams, and Coates, serving as executive producers. The adaptation will feature aspects of the 2018 play based on Coates' book, along with animated segments, home videos from the actors, and archival footage.

In Between The World and Me, Coates details the constant threat of merely existing in a black body, charting the traumas and triumphs of growing up in Baltimore, attending Howard University, and the psychological torment of anticipating harm as a young black man, in a heart-crushing and cautionary letter to his son. It was a New York Times best-seller, remaining at the top of the list for three weeks, and garnered endoresments from Barack Obama, Toni Morrison, and virtually the entire community of literary critics.

Production on the special is currently underway following strict COVID-19 protocols, eyeing a Fall 2020 premiere on HBO. However, a precise date has yet to be announced. Stay tuned for updates in the weeks and months ahead.