Chiwetel Ejiofor in Negotiation to Portray Bishop Carlton for Netflix Biopic ‘Come Sunday’
'Come Sunday' is based on the true story about evangelical minister Carlton Pearson featured in a 2005 This American Life episode.
What if hell isn't a place you could go after you die? What if it doesn't exist at all?
<p>That’s the conclusion Tulsa, Oklahoma evangelical minister <strong>Carlton Pearson</strong> arrived at in 2004, which led to his disparagement by his peers who labeled him a heretic. The minister eventually lost everything, including his church. The cataclysmic event set Pearson on a path to rediscover himself, the importance of family as well as the renewed strength to rebuild his church.</p><p>It’s a compelling true-story that has been featured in a <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/304/heretics" target="_blank">"<strong>This American Life</strong>"</a> episode in 2005, and is now the subject of Netflix’s forthcoming flick <strong><em>Come Sunday</em></strong>. <em><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chiwetel-ejiofor-talks-star-opposite-914696" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a></em> reports Nigerian actor <a href="http://www.okayafrica.com/tag/chiwetel-ejiofor/" target="_blank"><strong>Chiwetel Ejiofor</strong> </a>is currently in talks to portray Pearson in the adaptation based on the episode and screenplay by <strong>Marcus Hinchey</strong> (<strong><em>All Good Things</em></strong>).</p><p><div class="preroll-video"></div><ora-player></ora-player></p><p></p><p class="image-media media-photo-credit"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xMDk5NzIxNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTkyOTQwOH0.o8AtyuuxcTBzmXj2eW9exU89BfxTumHHzreqcB6b_dI/img.jpg?width=980" id="e54c8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f320ca64e5045ba4894d22eea7ff8616" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"> Chiwetel Ejiofor via Facebook</p><p>If the <strong><em>12 Years a Slave</em></strong> breakout star signs on he will join <strong>Robert Redford</strong>, who will play <strong>Oral Roberts</strong>, a TV evangelist pioneer who mentored Pearson, for the <strong>Joshua Marston</strong>-directed (<strong><em>Maria Full of Grace</em></strong>) production.</p><p>"This American Life's" <strong>Ira Glass</strong> and<strong> Alissa Shipp</strong>, as well as Endgame's<strong> James D. Stern</strong>, are producing.</p><p>Previously veteran actor <strong>Jeffrey Wrigh</strong>t was slated to play Pearson in the delayed project, formerly titled <em>Heretics</em>.</p><p>Production is scheduled to begin in January.</p><p>You can also catch Ejiofor starring as Baron Karl Mordo in <strong><em>Doctor Strange</em></strong>, arriving in theaters in November.</p><p>If you missed the "This American Life" episode on Pearson, listen <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/304/heretics" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
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