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Rashida Jones To Adapt and Direct ‘Goldie Vance’ Film

Kerry Washington’s production company is also on board with the potential franchise.
Rashida Jones Celeste And Jesse Forever
By  · Published on December 4th, 2017

Kerry Washington’s production company is also on board with the potential franchise.

Rashida Jones and Kerry Washington are joining forces with Fox to bring an adaptation of Goldie Vance to the big screen.

Goldie Vance was created by Eisner Award-winning writer Hope Larson and artist Brittney Williams. The graphic novel series depicts the adventures of the eponymous sixteen-year-old detective; Goldie is a gifted and “highly detail-oriented” teenage crime-solver. Based in a Miami resort, Goldie hopes to become the hotel’s resident crime-buster, but inadvertently uncovers an international syndicate that throws her into the lion’s den.

Adapting a graphic novel is, of course, no new feat. There are so many in the works at the moment that it’s no surprise that studios are looking for the next big hit all the time. But thankfully, among the seemingly generic flavor of The Boys and the overt weirdness of The Umbrella Academy, we’re seeing a discernible increase of diverse stories like Raising Dion and Goldie Vance that make it beyond a pitch.

This shift is being made both behind and in front of the camera. Goldie is a mixed-race character, and there’s no one better for the job than Jones, who is mixed-race herself and slated to write and direct the film. Perspective matters in creating the most authentic stories, and Jones has been setting an example for the industry in recent weeks, too. Last month, Jones spoke out against the lack of inclusion at Pixar, citing it as the main reason for her and Will McCormack leaving the Toy Story 4 writing team:

“There is so much talent at Pixar and we remain enormous fans of their films. But it is also a culture where women and people of color do not have an equal creative voice, as is demonstrated by their director demographics: out of the 20 films in the company’s history, only one was co-directed by a woman and only one was directed by a person of color. We encourage Pixar to be leaders in bolstering, hiring, and promoting more diverse and female storytellers and leaders. We hope we can encourage all those who have felt like their voices could not be heard in the past to feel empowered.”

It’s no surprise, then, that her next big project hits the nail on the head so specifically. Goldie Vance clearly aims to tell the kind of intersectional story that contributes to the diversification of adaptation culture, especially when it comes to comics. Goldie Vance is reportedly envisioned as the pioneer film in a potential franchise for Fox, which is an idea that we can easily jump on board with. As a character, Goldie Vance already has the potential to be the kind of teen heroine that girls and young women would be proud to embrace, and she deserves a fantastic big screen debut.

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Sheryl Oh often finds herself fascinated (and let's be real, a little obsessed) with actors and their onscreen accomplishments, developing Film School Rejects' Filmographies column as a passion project. She's not very good at Twitter but find her at @sherhorowitz anyway. (She/Her)