Will Smith & Jay Z Partner To Create Emmett Till Mini-Series For HBO

Will Smith and Jay are partnering to create a mini-series about Emmett Till. They are joined by Jay Brown, James Lassiter, and Aaron Kaplan as executive producers on the project.

As of today (5/8), the Emmett Till miniseries doesn’t have a name, but will be produced on HBO.

Till was just 14 years old at the time of his murder in 1955. He was originally from Chicago, but was visiting family in Mississippi. He was said to have whistled at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman, and was savagely beaten by her husband Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam.

Despite bragging about the murder, an all white jury acquitted the killers of the crime. They later admitted their guilt publicly, but was never taken to task for their wrongdoings.

The Till family decided to have an open-casket funeral to show the savage nature of their child’s murderers. The Chicago Defender and other publications were given the right to publish unedited photos of her son.

The decision seemed to galvanize the civil rights movement and Emmett Till’s name has forever been remembered, but now his story will be told.

Currently, there are no writers attached to the project, but Roc Nation Overbrook, and Kapital Entertainment are the production companies.