Nia Long and Larenz Tate and bringing fans back to the ’90s in a whole new project.
The stars, who set hearts ablaze in 1997’s Love Jones, are reuniting for a new romantic drama for Netflix. The untitled film was officially greenlit by Netflix on Wednesday, per Deadline, and will be directed by filmmaker Eugene Ashe (Sylvie’s Love).
While the film’s synopsis is being kept under wraps, the outlet reported that the project is inspired by R&B singer Maxwell’s debut album, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. The album, recorded from 1994 to 1995 and released on April 2, 1996, became an acclaimed success and has since been recognized as one of the projects that brought commercial exposure to the neo-soul genre.
A concept album composed as a song cycle — a.k.a., it’s meant to be performed/listened to in order to paint the whole picture — Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite explores the beginning and dramatic conclusion of a torrid romance based on the singer’s real-life experiences.
Courtesy Everett
Larenz Tate and Nia Long in ‘Love Jones’
Ashe will direct with a script written by Kay Oyegun, a writer-producer best known for work on NBC’s This Is Us. Maxwell, John D. Hammond, Long, and Tate serve as executive producers with James Lopez, Charles D. King, and Poppy Hanks producing for Macro Film Studios.
Fans will just have to wait and see whether Long and Tate’s new project will follow the album’s themes to a tee or just give fans that ’90s love kind of feel. Entertainment Weekly has reached out to Netflix for more details.
Tate and Long’s cult classic drama Love Jones followed the whirlwind romance between Darius Lovehall, a young poet and novelist played by Tate, and Nina Mosley, a photographer portrayed by Long. The actors have worked together since then, most recently on the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael, in which Long plays Jackson family matriarch Katherine and Tate portrays Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.
But this will be the first project in years in which Long and Tate lead a romantic feature together.
Tate opened up about collaborating with Long to EW in 2021, recalling how it was to work with the actress, who at the time was an up-and-comer whose work he admired from afar.
“I had already seen Nia’s work in the past. I thought she was incredible,” Tate said about his first screen test with Long. “Immediately, we just kind of had a nice little spark and a connection and it just felt natural. I didn’t feel any pressure going into the room [for the screen test], I don’t think she felt any pressure. Once we began to do our scene, I think they saw immediately that we were the right pair.”
Although he couldn’t remember which scene they performed when they first met, he did recall a specific rehearsal day where his character, Darius, was really vibing with Nina.
“I do remember once we got to rehearsal in Chicago that the real connection really happened,” he shared. “In a moment where Darius and Nina had gone on their first date, and he takes her back and drops her off at her doorstep. And he’s talking about [whether] he should come upstairs or not and she doesn’t want to take things too fast, and he approaches her and they kiss.”
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He continued, “Now, I don’t know what Nia Long was used to in rehearsals, but in rehearsals, I’m gonna give it up! So what you saw in the movie is what happened in the actual rehearsal.”
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source nz.news.yahoo.com ’
