Chadwick Boseman, who's been filming the Marvel movie "Black Panther" in Atlanta, will portray U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in a film opening this fall.
From an announcement posted on director Reginald Hudlin's web site:
“As the nation teeters on the brink of WWII, a nearly bankrupt NAACP sends Marshall to conservative Connecticut to defend a black chauffeur against his wealthy socialite employer in a sexual assault and attempted murder trial that quickly became tabloid fodder. In need of a high profile victory but muzzled by a segregationist court, Marshall is partnered with Samuel Friedman, a young Jewish lawyer who has never tried a case. Marshall and Friedman struggle against a hostile storm of fear and prejudice, driven to discover the truth in the sensationalized trial which helped set the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement to come.”
Boseman portrayed pioneering baseball hero Jackie Robinson in "42," which filmed partly in Atlanta and James Brown in "Get On Up," set largely in Georgia but filmed in Mississippi.
"Marshall" is due to open Oct. 13.
