Jay Z And Will Smith To Produce Emmett Till Miniseries

Rapper Jay Z and actor Will Smith are teaming up to produce a miniseries for HBO that will tell the story of Emmett Till and the effect it had on the Civil Rights Movement.

Emmett Till Miniseries

Jay Z and Smith, who worked together on 2014’s Annie remake, will be joined in producing the untitled Emmett Till project by Aaron Kaplan, reported Deadline. The producers and HBO are planning a six-hour miniseries and are searching for a writer to pen the screenplay.

In August of 1955, Till was said to have flirted with a white woman named Carolyn Bryant, who he then asked on a date. A few nights later, Bryant’s husband and half-brother went to Till’s great-uncle’s house where he was staying. They took him from the home, tortured him and shot him before throwing his body in the Tallahatchie River.

Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were both acquitted of Till’s murder. After they were found not-guilty, the two admitted committing the crime.

Following the death of her son and the acquittal of his murderers, Mamie Till joined with the NAACP and began touring the country telling her son’s story. Emmett Till’s death and his mother’s refusal to let people forget it helped usher the civil rights movement into a new era. Rosa Parks cited Till as inspiration for her act of defiance on the Montgomery, Alabama bus.

Emmett Till’s story has been retold on 60 Minutes and in a 2003 documentary.