EXCLUSIVE: Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society has come aboard to produce the Sony TriStar Pictures adaptation of N.K Jemisin’s The Broken Earth, which the studio acquired last summer in a 7-figure deal with the intention of turning it into a fantasy action franchise. The film adaptation will be produced by Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo, President of the Outlier Society. Jemisin wrote the script.
Each book in Jemisin’s series — The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky — won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, making Jemisin the first person to win the award three years in a row and the first person to win for all three books in a trilogy.
The Fifth Season establishes the setting, a harsh futuristic Earth and a continent called the Stillness, which endures seasonal apocalyptic events that shake the world and its inhabitants during these “seasons.” They hole up in communities and then rebuild. Key to that effort are “orogenes,” individuals who can draw incredible magical power from reservoirs of the Earth. A societal order known as the Guardians trains them from childhood to perform this task in a brutal manner. Although the orogenes are supposed to keep the world from exploding, they are often treated cruelly.
This series is loved by millions and has been translated into many languages. As well as the Hugos, the first book won the Sputnik Award, was nominated for the Nebula Award and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel .Jemisin was just named one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People.
TriStar Pictures is being managed by Shary Shirazi (Vice President of Creative Production) and Rikki Jarrett (Creative Executive). Christina Raquel, Director for Development, will be responsible for the Outlier Society project. Tri-Star President Nicole Brown was instrumental in the introduction of Outlier Society.
Other film projects on Outlier Society’s upcoming slate include Amazon Studios’ adaptation of Akwaeke Emezi’s highly-anticipated novel You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty; Static Shock, a live action adaptation of DC Comics’ ground-breaking series, being penned by Randy McKinnon and with Reginald Hudlin also producing alongside Outlier; and MGM’s Thomas Crown Affair being written by Wes Tooke. In the TV space, Outlier’s upcoming projects include Amazon Studios’ Victories Greater Than Death and the Muhammad Ali series The Greatest.
As for his screen work, Jordan stars in the Denzel Washington-directed A Journal For Jordan from Sony Pictures, landing in the heat of awards season on December 22. Jordan produced alongside Denzel, Todd Washington, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch. Outlier Society is currently in pre-production on Creed 3 for MGM, on which Jordan makes his directorial debut, and reprises his lead role of Adonis Creed.
M88, WME, Ziffren Brittenham are Jordan’s representatives. Jemisin is repped by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates on behalf of Lucienne Diver at The Knight Agency.