Antoine Fuqua Will Direct New Film Adaptation of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

In partnership with theatre producers Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, Antoine Fuqua will adapt Tennessee Williams' classic Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" into a film updated for the modern era.

The play was first adapted to film in 1958, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.

Fuqua and his collaborators said the film "will combine elements of the play with new storylines and weave them together to bring the production to the big screen," according to Variety.

The play centers on Brick, a former athlete turned alcoholic, his sexually frustrated wife Maggie, and Big Daddy, the ailing and wealthy family patriarch.

Byrd and Jones-Harvey produced the 2008 Debbie Allen-directed Broadway revival of the play, which starred Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones.

They will produce "Get Up, Stand Up," a musical about Bob Marley, on London's West End this fall, and "MJ: The Michael Jackson Musical" for Broadway in 2022.

"Bringing such a historic production to the screen is an honor I am thrilled to have alongside Stephen and Alia," said Fuqua. "They have shown their commitment to the project with two successful stagings on Broadway and the West End and know what it takes to translate this iconic drama from theatre to cinema."

Fuqua's feature directing credits include "Training Day," "The Equalizer," and more.