Following a two-year development process, I’m a Virgo has a home.
Amazon has handed out a straight-to-series order for I’m a Virgo, the coming of age entry from Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You) starring Emmy-winner Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us).
Created, written and directed by Riley, I’m a Virgo is a coming-of-age joyride about a 13-foot-tall Black man (played by Jerome) who lives in Oakland, Calif. Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res (Apple’s The Morning Show) will serve as the studio on the show alongside Amazon. Riley, Ellenberg, Jerome and Tze Chun (Little America) will exec produce the half-hour series.
“I’m thrilled to be working with Amazon on this project,” Riley said. “This show will either have me lauded or banned, and as such, I have demanded payment up front.”
The series marks Riley’s follow-up of sorts to 2018 Sundance hit Sorry to Bother You. The breakout success of the feature led to a script deal with Media Res that same year. The result is I’m a Virgo. Riley has spent two decades running The Coup, a funk/pop/hip-hop band. Sorry to Bother You was his directorial debut.
Jerome, meanwhile, won a lead actor Emmy for his work in Ava DuVernay’s limited series When They See Us. His credits include Oscar winner Moonlight.
Media Res, overseen by former HBO exec Ellenberg, is also behind Apple’s The Morning Show, Pachinko, Extrapolations and HBO’s Scenes From a Marriage.
I’m a Virgo joins a roster of Amazon originals including the forthcoming The Lord of the Rings, A League of Their Own update, the Reese Witherspoon-produced Daisy Jones and the Six, Robert Kirkman’s Invincible, Jason Katims’ On the Spectrum, Underground Railroad and Them, as well as returning series Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Upload, The Boys and Jack Ryan, among others.
