Rick Famuyiwa is in negotiations to direct Son of Shaolin, a teen martial-arts feature project that is set up at Columbia Pictures.
Dwayne Johnson is producing with Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia via the group’s Seven Bucks Productions banner.
Based on a graphic novel by Jay Longino and Caanan White, the modern-day kung fu epic combines Shaolin mythology with a story about a group of teens who live in a neighborhood that is being gentrified. An aspiring street artist struggling to make ends meet discovers he is the last of his bloodline and must find a way to survive a seemingly unstoppable killer.
Longino wrote the script and will executive produce. Sony execs Matt Milam and Maia Eyre are overseeing for the studio.
Famuyiwa is best known for directing Dope, the 2015 indie darling about a group of teen geeks in a South Central Los Angeles neighborhood who find themselves in a coming-of-age adventure.
The filmmaker had been developing The Flash in 2016 as his follow-up to Dope, but after about six months of development he exited the project over creative differences.
Famuyiwa, who is repped by WME, Oasis Media and Del Shaw, is also working on a Showtime pilot written by Lena Waithe (Dear White People).
