FX is set to develop a limited series based on Blitz Bazawule’s upcoming debut novel The Scent of Burnt Flowers, according to Deadline.
- The news comes after a reported bidding war that included several streamers for the rights to the upcoming novel, which is set to debut on June 28th via Ballantine Books/Penguin Random House.
- FX will develop a six-episode limited series, with Bazawule set to write, direct and produce.
- Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is attached to star in and executive produce the series.
- Charles D. King, Marta Fernandez and Ahmadou Seck will also executive produce for Macro Television Studios and Gaby Mena and Natalia Williams will do the same for M88.
- The Scent of Burnt Flowers centers on Melvin and Bernadette, a Black couple fleeing persecution in 1960s America. They seek asylum in Ghana, where they meet charismatic Ghanaian musician Kwesi, who they lean on to preserve their freedom. Abdul-Mateen would play Kwesi in the series, which intertwines the dark chapters of history with a magical realist lens, elevating the story to an otherworldly experience.
- Bazawule landed this job after his acclaimed work on Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King for Disney+.
- Abdul-Mateen is next set to star opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Universal’s Ambulance directed by Michael Bay.