Jeff Nichols is quickly proving to be one of the most eclectic and exciting indie filmmakers working today. He tormented us with the psychological disaster movie “Take Shelter” with Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain, helped shape the McConaissance narrative early on with the “Stand By Me”-ish “Mud,” and he’s got the sci-fi-ish John Carpenter-esque "Midnight Special" in the can and set to premiere at SXSW next year. A man of various talents and tastes, Nichols was also tapped at one point to take a crack at the script for Warner Bros.’ “Aquaman” (though what’s happening there ultimately is unclear).
But if he’s worn genre hats over his short career, for his next act he’s trying something seemingly much more mature and perhaps more classic with a drama about a historic fight for love and equality. Titled “Loving” his upcoming film stars Joel Egerton and Ruth Negga ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," "World War Z") and is inspired by the 2011 documentary “The Loving Story” (by director Nancy Buirski). The film centers on Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who married in June 1958. They were arrested, thrown into jail, and exiled from the state. For the next nine years, the couple fought for their marriage and the right to return home as a family.
There’s no word on a release date yet, but IG Beach and Raindog Films have just shared the first look from “Loving” which is currently shooting in Richmond, VA. The film co-stars Michael Shannon alongside Nick Kroll, Marton Csokas ("The Equalizer"), Jon Bass ("Big Time in Hollywood, FL") and Bill Camp ("Black Mass"). Sundance 2016 feels a little too early, so maybe we’ll see it later in the year? Keep an eye out at least.