Issa Rae, co-creator of the HBO comedy Insecure, is tackling a reimagining of Set It Off, New Line’s 1996 crime thriller which starred Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah.
Rae will produce the new project with an eye to star. Producing with her will be Montrel McKay, Rae’s partner at Issa Rae Productions.
Syreeta Singleton (Black Monday) and Nina Gloster (Star) have been hired to pen the script.
The original movie told of four friends, fed up with by low-wage jobs and broken by institutional violence, who desperately band to together for a series of bank robberies. After initial success, the spree ultimately leads the quartet to mostly tragic ends.
Set It Off, which also starred Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise, proved to a be surprise hit while also garnering rave reviews. The movie was the rare action thriller that featured not only female leads but women of color, and also took on work issues, something that resonated with audiences. It also helped elevated several of the participants to another level, including director F. Gary Gray, whose previous movie was the 1995 comedy Friday.
Rae co-created HBO’s Insecure, on which she acted as writer, executive producer and actress. Earlier this year, she starred in the Universal comedy Little with Regina Hall and Marsai Martin.
