L.A. Riots Movie to Be Directed by '12 Years a Slave' Writer John Ridley
John Ridley will direct his long-gestating Los Angeles riots script, Variety reports.
The director's untitled film follows the unrest in 1992 after the acquittal of LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King.
Ridley, who adapted the Oscar-winning screenplay for "12 Years a Slave," has reportedly been working on the script for nearly a decade, according to Variety.
The drama will chronicle the uprising from the perspective of other players amid the city's racial tension and years of police brutality in the inner-city.
Speaking to Variety in a previous interview, Ridley said the script was sold in 2007 and recalled how he was surprised that Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and LAPD chief Darryl Gates had not spoken to each other for a year prior to the riots.
“It was a systemic meltdown,” Ridley told Variety. “The city and how it functions is the primary character of the film.”