The hugely successful and influential miniseries is getting a remake.
The new iteration of Roots will be executive produced by Kunta Kinte himself, LeVar Burton and Will Packer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Roots, based on the novel of the same name by Alex Haley, is a legacy story that follows Kunta Kinte, later re-named “Toby”, as he is kidnapped and brought over to America during the height of the American slave trade.
Originally, this remake was supposed to be an eight-hour epic airing on the History Channel, in the vein of similar series like Hatfields and McCoys and The Bible. The original series, which aired in 1977, was a ratings smash and earned 34 Emmy nominations, winning nine of them, including Supporting Actor for Ed Asner and Original Score for Quincy Jones.
This new version is set to air sometime in 2016.
– Dylan “CineMasai” Green
