A Rosa Parks Biopic Is in the Works

A new biopic focused on Rosa Parks is on the way. According to Deadline, the first-ever scripted feature film that will hit U.S. theaters about the Civil Rights activist will start shooting in 2019.

The movie industry website claims that Rosa will focus on the immediate aftermath of Parks’ arrest in 1955, after she refused to give up her seat to a white rider on a Montgomery bus. Parks refusal and the court case that grew out of her arrest launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the first major direct action campaigns of the Civil Rights movement.

Deadline reports that the film has brought on Jeanne Theoharis as a consulting producer. The Brooklyn College professor wrote the 2013 biography The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Theoharis told the website that she wants to show a side of Parks that isn’t taught in elementary schools. 

“While most Americans have heard of Rosa Parks, the details of what happened that on the night she was arrested, and her lifetime of political courage and activism, are largely unknown,” Theoharis said. “The real story of Rosa Parks is far different, and even more inspiring and relevant for our times than the tale most children learn in school.”

Screenwriter Charlie Kessler said he was “honored” to work with Theoharis and that he hopes the film will raise awareness of the non-profit work being carried out in Parks’ name. 

“We are honored to be working alongside Professor Theoharis. Rosa Parks is an inspiration, and our goal is to be able to use this project to raise awareness for the Rosa and Raymond Park Institute for Self Development,” Kessler said. “Ms. Parks did not have any children, so her institute is her legacy.”

Some of the proceeds from Rosa will go toward The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.