Viola Davis Attached To Star in THE FIGHTING SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

Viola Davis and Julius Tennon's JuVee Productions, who just announced a first look feature production deal with Amazon Studios, has announced that their first project is with Amazon is moving forward, according to Deadline.

Davis will produce and star in The Fighting Shirley Chisholm as the U.S. Representative who was both the first woman and the first person of color to seek a major American political party's nomination for President.

Maggie Betts will direct from a screenplay written by Emmy-nominated writer Adam Countee (Silicon Valley, Community, Mindy Project).

Chisholm ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968 from New York's 12th congressional district and became the first black woman elected to Congress. In January 1972 she announced her presidential bid in a Baptist church in her Brooklyn district. That election ended with George McGovern getting the Democratic nomination and losing to incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon.

Davis can currently be seen starring in the critically acclaimed Widows and stars in Amazon Studio's Troupe Zero, alongside Alison Janney and Jim Gaffigan. Davis won an Oscar for her supporting role in Fences in 2017. She won a drama Primetime Emmy in 2015 for her lead actress role in ABC/Shondaland's How to Get Away With Murder.

Read the original article on Deadline.