After The Equalizer racked up over $100 million worldwide in only two weeks, director Antoine Fuqua is looking to go from box-office champ to Oscar contender by attaching himself to adapt Jeff Hobbs’ book The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League.
If that title alone doesn’t give you some idea of what the film is about, it tells the story of Robert Peace, an African-American man who excelled in molecular biochemistry and biophysics enough to leave the mean streets of Newark for the hallowed halls of Yale before meeting said tragic end.
Hobbs, who was Peace’s friend and roommate at Yale, only released his book a few weeks ago and there are already several high profile producers looking to make the film. Fuqua might not get to tell Robert Peace’s story right away, with his Jake Gyllenhaal boxing film Southpaw in post-production and his Denzel Washington-led remake of The Magnificent Seven gearing up.
