Antoine Fuqua to Direct 'The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace'

When one thinks of Antoine Fuqua what usually springs to mind are gritty action flicks, because that's where he's found the most box office success. Movies like Olympus Has Fallen, The Equalizer, and King Arthur performed well, but critically Fuqua's claim-to-fame was the street drama, Training Day. While he's always got a full schedule and will be directing the boxing drama Southpaw next, Fuqua has landed another project in The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.

THR reports IM Global has picked up the rights to Jeff Hobbs' book with the super long title, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League, for Fuqua to direct.  The film is based on the true story of Robert Peace and it's a timely, topical story dealing with race, social class, and more. Peace was  "a young African-American man who left the crime-ridden streets of Newark to attend Yale. There, he studied molecular biochemistry and biophysics and excelled at school, but the troubles from his upbringing continued to plague him until his violent and all-too-soon end."  Hobbs has a personal connection to the story as Peace's college roommate and close friend.

When this would shoot is anybody's guess. Fuqua  will likely be involved in a sequel to The Equalizer, and he's also got the drug smuggling film Narco Sub and a remake of The Magnificent Seven which would reteam him with Denzel Washington.