John Boyega discusses Finn’s new place in the Resistance in The Last Jedi. The stars of Game of Thrones say there’ll be a quicker pace to the next season. From Argentinian filmmaker Cristian Ponce comes an intriguing new animated web series, Ghost Radio, about a midnight-hour talk show broadcasting from the very. Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a novel written by Alex Haley and first published in 1976. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African.

This is a moment. This moment being a daylong event — hosted by Valerie Jarrett, the president's closest adviser — devoted to A+E Networks' Roots, a reimagining of the blockbuster 1. The four- part, eight- hour project will debut on Memorial Day (May 3. History, Lifetime and A& E. The White House screening and panel discussion is a key step toward making Roots not just a successful television show but also an old- fashioned, watercooler- style collective cultural event.

Burton was a 1. 9- year- old student at USC when he starred in the original as Kunta Kinte, the Mandinka warrior who is kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery in America. Watch Parental Guidance Download. Burton now is an executive producer of the new version, passing on the career- defining lead role to 2. Malachi Kirby, a second- generation Londoner whose grandparents came from Jamaica. Kirby is here at the White House, as well. It's the young actor's first trip to Washington, D. C. But on this gray Tuesday in mid- May, as a mournful rain falls on the waning days of the historic presidency of Barack Obama, Kirby is in the South Court Auditorium, along with co- star Anika Noni Rose (who plays his daughter, Kizzy), directors Mario Van Peebles and Phillip Noyce and producers Mark Wolper, Burton and Will Packer (the force behind a string of big- screen hits including Straight Outta Compton and the Ride Along franchise), all of them waiting — and hoping — for TV history to repeat itself.

It's a very powerful idea. She sees Roots, with a budget close to $5. Winning awards is a major piece of that agenda, starting with the Emmys, which traditionally have been more inclusive than the Academy Awards, in part because television generally has a better track record on diversity than film does. But Roots will face stiff competition in the miniseries category — one of its main rivals is sure to be FX's campy and addictive The People v.

Simpson: American Crime Story, which also has been applauded for its deft handling of racial politics. Simpson, incidentally, had a cameo as a West African tribesman in the original Roots.) But Dubuc believes her series is a far worthier undertaking. And I hope this is the story that people want to recognize as the definitive message . That way, it would be safely off the air before the critical February sweeps period began.

Silverman, obviously, was wrong. More than half of the U. S. The final episode, seen by more than 1. Roots went on to win nine Emmy Awards. It pioneered the docu- melodrama form, fueled the miniseries craze (The Thorn Birds, Shogun and The Winds of War all followed) and awakened television executives to the potential of African- American subject matter — not to mention the existence of African- American television viewers.“The race conversation was cooking in Hollywood long before any of it became Twitter hashtagged,” says Anna Paquin. Its effect on the culture was even more profound; Roots enlightened a nation to the brutal history of slavery, which tended to be woefully underplayed in textbooks (to say nothing of Hollywood movies and TV shows). Hundreds of colleges planned courses on Roots, and more than two dozen U.

S. It was the type of massive impact that is almost unimaginable in today's atomized media environment. But does that mean it can be done again?

Or that it should even be tried? Burton recalls hearing about plans for a remake in October 2. DGA screening of 1. Years a Slave. But it's a little like your music: I know how much you like it, but it really doesn't speak to me.' . At that moment, Wolper and Burton simply were motivated by an opportunity to bridge a generational chasm. But I felt that there was merit in trying.

The show never tells us. Watch The Devil`S Advocate Streaming. In the series finale, all we get is her statement to Apollo that she thinks she’s completed her mission and that it feels good. The dramatization of Alex Haley's family line from post Civil War America to the writer's search for his roots.

And if I could help make it as good as it could be, it would be much better than just sitting on the sidelines. Her Kevin Costner- headlined Hatfields & Mc. Coys had set a viewership record for History when it premiered on Memorial Day 2. More than 1. 3 million viewers watched each of its three nights, helping History shake off its reputation as a repository for musty historical documentaries and reality shows.

And since she had launched A+E Studios in June 2. Dubuc also was looking for a project she could own outright, to maximize all the revenue from emerging platforms and global distribution. Says Whitaker, “It’s important to bring up these ideas, to look at ourselves, to put ourselves up in front of a mirror and decide whether or not things are being treated fairly.”. Would millennial African- American audiences embrace the material? Many African- American writers just wouldn't touch the material. And other writers were resistant to incorporating the historical material that has come to light in the 4. Haley's book first was published and that Wolper and A+E's development team viewed as essential in their reimagining of the project.

This version, for instance, incorporates new information about the Mandinka culture in Juffure, Gambia, including the tribe's rich musical and storytelling traditions, while night four depicts the brutal treatment endured by slaves who fought with the Union Army during the Civil War. How can we say something about our brand, our company, our storytelling capabilities? Those projects are few and far between. Lawrence Konner (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire) and Mark Rosenthal (who has co- written several screenplays with Konner, including the 2. Planet of the Apes) share writing credits on nights one and four. Alison Mc. Donald (Red Band Society) and Charles Murray (Sons of Anarchy) wrote nights two and three, respectively. Casting was the next hurdle, especially the critical roles of Kunta Kinte and Chicken George, Kinte's grandson.

The producers embarked on a global search that took them beyond their New York/L. A. Kirby was handpicked by Burton, and Rege- Jean Page, also British and of Zimbabwean descent, was tapped to star as Chicken George. Kirby, who had roles in the British series East. Enders and Dr. Who, actually was discovered in an early screen test in London.

But Burton and the producers continued their search and only in the end came back to Kirby, asking him to fly to South Africa, where director Noyce (Salt, Patriot Games) was in preproduction, to read in person. Seeing Kirby perform the role in person, says Burton, . And it was there that my heart just opened, exploded open. He's the one. So that was a big step. What my dad and I did discuss about Roots . It hasn't aged well at all; Burton admits that it feels .

A handful of white characters diverge seriously from Haley's novel, most conspicuously a benevolent slave- ship captain played by Ed Asner. And the white actors (Lorne Greene, Robert Reed, Sandy Duncan), though their roles were peripheral, were prominent in the network promos. You treat it like a film. You're going to get this budget. You're not interfacing with the other guys. You're going to do your look.' And knowing that, I felt I would be freed up to do something I was proud of. Noyce, the Australian director known mostly for action movies, was pressed into service after John Singleton, who had initially — excitedly — agreed to direct night one, had to drop out because he was committed to a pilot.

From left: Lane Garrison, Paquin, Sedale Threatt Jr. And not everyone agrees on what historically is true. Noyce recently parted ways with HBO's American Lion following disagreements over how to depict the darker aspects of Andrew Jackson's history, which included owning hundreds of slaves and signing the Indian Removal Act of 1. A source tells THR that Noyce was fired for not providing a work stop date.) Says Noyce, . The multiplatform content explosion and the fatigue of the reality genre have caught up to basic cable, with many big network groups seeing double- digit declines in viewership in recent years. To be sure, A+E Networks has begun to stanch the bleed after hitting a nadir in 2. Year- over- year, History still is down 7 percent among total viewers, while A& E is off 1.