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Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Filming began in Atlanta this week on Just Mercy, a legal drama starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson, Warner Bros. said Thursday. Destin Daniel Cretton is directing the adaptation of Bryan Stevenson's non-fiction book about a graduate of Harvard Law School who heads to Alabama to defend people who have been wrongly accused of crimes.
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Black Panther actor Jordan plays the lawyer, Room Oscar winner Larson plays the local advocate who helps him and Ray Oscar winner Foxx plays their client.
"One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian, who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie," a studio synopsis said. "In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds -- and the system -- stacked against them."
The movie's ensemble will also feature O'Shea Jackson Jr., Rob Morgan and Tim Blake Nelson.
Just Mercy reunites Larson and Cretton, who previously collaborated on The Glass Castle and Short Term 12.
Cretton co-wrote the screenplay for Just Mercy with Andrew Lanham.
WarnerMedia announced Wednesday that it is adopting a company-wide inclusion rider to ensure gender and racial diversity on its film and television projects.
Just Mercy is the first for which the policy will be implemented.
