Halle Berry and Lena Waithe have signed on as executive producers for the “Boomerang” TV series currently in the works at BET.
Based on the 1992 American romantic comedy film in which Berry starred alongside Robin Givens and Eddie Murphy, this new series will follow the lives of Jacqueline Boyer’s son and Marcus and Angela Graham’s daughter as they try to step out of their parents’ shadows and make a legacy of their own.
“I’m thrilled to team up with Lena on this project as she is without a doubt a leading voice of her generation and a trail blazer in her own right,” Berry said. “I’m truly excited to be a part of bringing this iconic and beloved film to the small screen.”
Produced by BET Networks and Paramount Television, the 10-episode half-hour series will premiere in 2019 on BET. Ben Cory Jones is attached as showrunner and will executive produce the series along with Rishi Rajani from Hillman Grad Productions, Berry, and Waithe. Waithe and Jones co-wrote the pilot episode and Dime Davis will direct the pilot episode as well as additional episodes including the finale.
“This is less of a reboot and more of a continuation of the original story,” said Waithe. “There’s no point in trying to remake a classic. It can’t be done. So we want to create something fresh that speaks to a new generation. We hope people will come to the show with an open mind and ready to embrace the new world we’ve created!”
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Berry won an Academy Award in 2002 for her leading role in the film “Monster’s Ball,” making her the first (and so far only) black woman in history to win best actress. She is also known for playing Storm in the “X-Men” film franchise and her appearance in the James Bond film “Die Another Day.” She will next be seen in “John Wick: Chapter 3” as an assassin named Sofia,with that film scheduled for release in 2019. It was also recently announced that Berry is set to make her feature directorial debut with “Bruised,” in which she will also star. The filmwill follow a disgraced MMA fighter who must fight a rising star in the sport while becoming the mother her child deserves.
Waithe won an Emmy in 2017 for writing the “Master of None” episode “Thanksgiving,” making her the first black woman to win the award for best writing for a comedy series. She went on to create the critically-acclaimed Showtime series “The Chi.” Waithe has also appeared in several onscreen roles, including on shows like “This Is Us,” “Dear White People,” and in the film “Ready Player One.” Her upcoming projects include “Twenties” at TBS, the film “Queen and Slim” which she wrote and will star Daniel Kaluuya, the horror anthology series “Them” for Amazon, and HBO’s untitled Kid Fury Project, which Variety exclusively reported in July.