André Holland, Zazie Beetz And Stephen McKinley Henderson To Star In Film Adaptation Of Amiri Baraka’s ‘The Dutchman’

André Holland, Zazie Beetz, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Kate Mara will star in the upcoming film adaptation of The Dutchman, based on the play by Amiri Baraka. The film will be written by Qasim Basir and Andre Gaines, with Gaines directing.

Deadline reports that the deal came after the film earned a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement . According to Deadline’s list of projects that have interim agreements, The Dutchman was able earn approval because it is being produced by independent company Dutchman LLC, which is not aligned with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Production on the film has started Monday, Sept. 25, and will employ about 150 people.

Baraka’s Obie Award-winning play is set on a New York subway and follows “an encounter between a well-to-do Black man and an enchanting white woman who match wits in a sexualized game of cat and mouse that leads to a violent conclusion,” according to Deadline. The play’s final confrontation echoes the racial issues occurring at the time the play premiered in 1964. The film also became a film in 1966 starring Al Freeman Jr. and Shirley Knight.

Gaines will produce via his company Cinemation Studios. Producing alongside him are Sylvie’s Love producer Jonathan T. Baker and Washington Square Films’ Joshua Blum and Han West.