Regina King to Direct Bitter Root Adaptation for Legendary

Watchmen star Regina King is set to direct the film adaptation of Bitter Root for Legendary. The movie, based on the Image Comics series created by David F. Walker & Sanford Greene with Chuck Brown, takes place in the Harlem renaissance of the 1920s and centers on a family of monster hunters whose reputation and effectiveness have been compromised by a schism in the family, but who have to join forces to turn back an ancient evil threatening New York City. Last week, a story about the Ta-Nehisi Coates-written Superman movie -- which is in early development and will star a Black actor as Superman -- named King as a potential contender for that job.

King's directorial experience includes episodes of Southland, Being Mary Jane, and Shameless. As an actor, she is no stranger to comics and the geek space, having appeared on several episodes of The Big Bang Theory, voiced Huey and Riley in The Boondocks, and even auditioned for the role of Valerie Brown in the 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie.

Comics writer Bryan Edward Hill is rewriting the first draft of the screenplay, according to Deadline, who broke the news. King and Reina King will serve as producers through their Royal Ties banner, along with Ryan and Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian of Proximity Media. Walker, Greene, Brown, and Drapetomedia's Sean Owolo will act as executive producers.

King made her feature film directing debut in 2020 with Amazon Studios's Oscar-nominated One Night In Miami, for which also got her nominated for a DGA Award and an NAACP Image Award.

The comic, which was nominated for Eisner and Ringo Awards, was a hit when it launched in 2018. ComicBook's review of the first issue called it "an action-packed burst of energy that never loses sight of the heavy themes at the center of the series." Coogler became attached to the adaptation in 2019.