Antoine Fuqua to direct film adaptation of 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'

April 21 (UPI) -- Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua is set to direct a film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with an all-African American cast.

The new film is based on a 2008 Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof from producers Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey that featured an all-African American cast and was sold out during its 19-week run on Broadway.

Fuqua is also producing the film through his company Fuqua Films. Byrd and Jones-Harvey are producing through their company Front Row Productions.

Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones starred in the Broadway version, which was directed by Debbie Allen.

No casting for the film has been announced. The film will use elements from the play and introduce new storylines.

"Bringing such a historic production to the screen is an honor I am thrilled to have alongside Stephen and Alia. 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 said in a statement.

Fuqua is known for directing Training Day, Shooter, Olympus Has Fallen, The Equalizer, Southpaw, The Magnificent Seven and more.

Fuqua will next direct Will Smith in Emancipation, which recently moved its production out of Georgia over the state's recent voting law.