Cast Update: Jennifer Hudson, Nas and others On Board For Monster

 

John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Co. is producing the upcoming crime drama Monster and this is a film based on the novel of the same name by Walter Dean Myers, about a young man accused of a crime he claims he did not commit. With filming about to begin in New York, the cast has been rounded out to include Jennifer Hudson, A$AP Rocky and Nas.

Monster tells the story of teenage honors student and filmmaker Steve Harmon who is deemed a monster after being charged with a murder he says he didn’t commit. As Steve fights the system accusing him, he moves from being an elite high school student from Harlem to being faced with spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Monster certainly sounds like a topical story, especially given the release of Ava DuVernay’s documentary on the prison-industrial complex and the toll it takes on the lives of African-Americans. With a juvenile being threatened with spending the rest of his life and prison, and the prosecutors describing him as a monster, this is already an intriguing premise for the contemporary moment. The novel by Walter Dean Myers actually takes the form of a screenplay in Steve’s imagination, so it’s tailor-made for a movie adaptation.

Jennifer Hudson, Nas, and A$AP Rocky join an already hefty cast that includes Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson, and Jeffrey Wright. The film will be directed by Anthony Mandler.