Boots Riley’s ‘Dark, Absurd’ Next Project Will Star Jharrel Jerome as a 13-Foot-Tall Man

Writer/director Boots Riley took to Twitter on Monday morning to announce his next project — his first since his 2018 indie breakout smash “Sorry to Bother You.” But Riley’s next outing won’t be a movie. It’s an “episodic joy ride,” he tweeted, called “I’m a Virgo,” and it will star Jharrel Jerome as a 13-foot-tall man who lives in Oakland, California.

“I have a show about a 13-ft tall Black man who lives in Oakland. It’s called ‘I’m A Virgo.’ Jharrel Jerome is playing the lead,” Riley tweetd. “I’m doing this w Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res. We haven’t decided on the network/streamer. It’ll be dark, absurd, hilarious, and important.” See the tweet, and first concept art, below.

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While Riley hasn’t landed on where “I’m a Virgo” will stream, Michael Ellenberg is well-connected in the streaming space as the executive producer on Apple TV+’s hit 2020 Emmy contender “The Morning Show,” and on HBO’s legacy drama series “The Leftovers.”

Actor Jharrel Jerome broke out of the 2016 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” before going on to star in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix series “When They See Us.” The show centered on the Central Park Five, a group of teenagers wrongly convicted of a brutal attack in 1989. Jerome won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his turn as Korey Wise. Jerome recently also starred in the Audience crime drama TV series “Mr. Mercedes.”

“I’m a Virgo” is Riley’s first project since “Sorry to Bother You,” a summer 2018 hit for Annapurna Pictures starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, and Steven Yeun. The politically charged satire was one of the hottest movies of that year’s Sundance Film Festival. Since debuting “Sorry to Bother You,” Riley has been politically active, endorsing Bernie Sanders in 2020 and speaking his mind via social media and via other engagements, including at SFFILM events.

I have a show
about a 13-ft tall Black man who lives in Oakland.

It’s called I’m A Virgo.

Jharrel Jerome is playing the lead.

I’m doing this w Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res. We haven’t decided on the network/streamer.

It’ll be dark, absurd, hilarious, and important. pic.twitter.com/pzOGDxMaaO

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) June 22, 2020