Having ended up with Best Picture and Best Original Song nominations, the overall Academy Awards snub of "Selma" — and lack of recognition for director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo in particular — has nevertheless been a talking point in the past few weeks. And rightly so: DuVernay’s smart, confident direction and Oyelowo’s transformative performance were easily among the best in their fields this year, but were bafflingly overlooked in favor of more pedestrian fare (*cough* "The Imitation Game").
But the pair, who originally worked together on DuVernay’s previous feature, "Middle Of Nowhere," aren’t skipping a beat, and are coming for Oscar voters again, as The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the duo are set to reteam for a third project.
Backed again by Participant Media, who were partly behind "Selma," the film is described as a "sweeping love story and complex murder mystery set against the backdrop" of Hurricane Katrina. Touching down in August 2005, Katrina turned out to be the most devastating hurricane since 1928, but perhaps due to the expense involved, the catastrophe hasn’t directly inspired many movies at this point, though Spike Lee made two documentaries about the event, Paul Walker‘s movie "Hours" was set around it, and it was a major touch point for Best Picture nominee "Beasts Of The Southern Wild."
DuVernay, who’ll write, direct, and produce (Oyelowo will produce as well as star), commented "the story we’re interested in will explore the complexities of intimate relationship within times of chaos, while also examining the chaos itself." It sounds like perfect material for DuVernay, and it’s great that Oyelowo’s involved again as well, given his astonishing "Selma" performance. There’s no timeframe for when this will move forward, but it can’t come soon enough.