Brian Tyree Henry, who has been nominated for an Oscar, Tony and Emmy, is joining a upcoming Pharrell Williams/Michel Gondry film by Universal Pictures. Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey and recent Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph are already part of the project, which is a coming-of-age musical set “in the summer of 1977 Virginia Beach inspired by Atlantis Apartments, Williams’ childhood neighborhood,” according to the official synopsis.
Gondry is set to direct from a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson. Williams and Mimi Valdés will produce through i am OTHER and Gil Netter will produce through Gil Netter Productions. Universal’s Senior Vice President of Production Development Ryan Jones and Director of Production Development Christine Sun will oversee the project for the studio.
Henry's current work includes “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” where he reprises his role as a conspiracy theorist joining a secret mission to Hollow Earth. He was also heard last year in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” as Miles Morales’ dad, before that being nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 2022’s “Causeway.” That same year he also costarred in David Leitch’s “Bullet Train” alongside Brad Pitt.
Henry’s next project is “Transformers One,” an animated “Transformers” adventure where Henry will play a young Megatron — the most feared villain in all of “Transformers” lore, the traditional leader of the Decepticons.
Williams has a another autobiographical film sharing his story opening later this year called “Piece by Piece.” It was directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville and is told through LEGO bricks. That film opens on Oct. 11 from Focus Features.
