Amazon Studios has nabbed rights to the Sundance favorite Selah and the Spades and is working on an original series based on the film, according to Variety.
The feature debut of renowned writer and director Tayarisha Poe, Selah and the Spades is a searing look at a Pennsylvania prep school drug dealer that follows Selah, the leader of a student drug-mongering faction called the Spades. Also a star student at a prestigious school, Selah is prepping for graduation as she searches for her replacement as head of the drug ring.
Met with critical success, the teen drama scored a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and has now attracted the attention of Amazon, whose original series based on the film has Poe herself onboard to write, direct and produce alongside Lauren McBride, who also produced the film.
“I’m thrilled that Selah and The Spades has found a home with Amazon Studios, and doubly excited to see the world of The Haldwell School expand and develop in the serial format,” Poe told Variety. “I’d always hoped to work with a company that realized the multi-format potential of this fictional world, and truly we have found the ideal partners with Amazon.”
Prior to her feature debut, Poe worked on the 2012 comedy-drama short Honey and Trombones, as well her screenwriting debut The Fits, the mesmerizing psychological portrait of a tomboy dropped into a Cincinnati West End dance team.
Her first full-length offering stars Lovie Simone, from the disturbing thriller Share and the ultra-dramatic series Greenleaf, as Selah.
Amazon has been picking up rights to a number of Sundance stars, including the Shia LaBeouf-led drama Honey Boy, the political thriller The Report and Mindy Kaling’s Late Night.
No word yet on a premiere date for the Selah and the Spades series or for the film’s launch on Amazon, but for now, check out the trailer below.