Jay Z Just Won a Bidding War to Create a Docuseries and Movie About Trayvon Martin
After winning an intense bidding war, Jay Z and the Weinstein Company are teaming up for a docuseries and full-length narrative feature about the late Trayvon Martin. Jay and Weinstein have acquired the rights to the books Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It and Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, Variety reported Thursday.
The 2014 book Suspicion Nation, penned by NBC News analyst Lisa Bloom, takes a closer look at “the six biggest mistakes” the state of Florida made with what Bloom’s called a “winnable case.” Rest in Power was written by Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, and recounts his childhood and the movement inspired by the eventual acquittal of George Zimmerman.
The plan, Variety said, is for Jay and Weinstein to develop both a six-part docuseries and a narrative feature film. The partnership is part of a first-look deal Jay inked with the Weinstein Company in September. Jay and Harvey Weinstein previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed TIME: The Kalief Browder Story, a six-part docuseries that premiered on Spike at the top of this month.
Martin, 17, was fatally shot by Zimmerman in February 2012 in Florida. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch member, claimed he was the victim and shot Martin in self-defense. Martin’s family, however, argued that Zimmerman shot the 17-year-old “in cold blood.” Martin was unarmed at the time of the encounter, CNN reported, and was carrying Skittles and an iced tea from a nearby 7-Eleven at the time.
