The American actor, producer, rapper, and songwriter, Willard Carroll Jr., better known as Will Smith, is teaming up with Jay Z to become executive producers of an untitled HBO mini series about Emmett Till. The Mini series is about a young black American, victim of one of the most notorious hate crimes in American history.
No writers, directors, or stars have been confirmed at this time, however, Jay Brown, James Lassiter, and Aaron Kaplan will also be the executive producer.
The 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955, was killed by a mob in Mississippi, after the African-American teenager Emmett Till was allegedly flirting with a white woman. The mother of Emmett demanded something forcefully to have an open-funeral, so that the world could see what had been done to her son.
Photos of Emmett Till's gruesomely mutilated body were published in the papers across the U.S. country - which then have drawn enough attention to the state of black civil rights in Mississippi.
The killers of Emmett Till, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were free from any criminal charges with a verdict of not guilty by an all-white jury,later on however Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were under protection of double jeopardy that they both publicly admitted the murder.
The murder of Emmett Till was one of many shocking events behind the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s. And until today, the incident still resonates strongly to many people.
The untitled project of Will Smith and the American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur Jay-Z, hails from Kapital Entertainment, Overbrook Entertainment and Roc Nation. The Emmett Till project of Jay-Z and Smith marks their reunion, as they worked together as producers of the 2014 feature remake of Annie - which starred Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhané Wallis.
Will Smith was last seen on the big screen on his 2015 film Focus, and Smith is currently shooting Suicide Squad, slated to be out next year. Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé had a special concert last year - which aired on HBO.
