Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan,” X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Jaden Smith (The Karate Kid, After Earth) are set to star in an upcoming big screen adaptation of James McBride’s recent bestseller The Good Lord Bird, Deadline reports. The book, published in 2013, is officially described as follow:
Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, when the region is a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henrys master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave townwith Brown, who believes hes a girl.
Over the ensuing months, Henrywhom Brown nicknames Little Onionconceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. Eventually Little Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859one of the great catalysts for the Civil War.
McBride’s previous novel, Miracle at St. Anna, was adapted for the screen in 2008 and he then teamed with that film’s director, Spike Lee, to provide the screenplay for Red Hook Summer. McBride will produce The Good Lord Bird alongside Schreiber and Brian Taylor.
(Photo Credit: Guillermo Proano / FayesVision / WENN.com)