Barry Jenkins to Direct Amazon’s Underground Railroad Limited Series

Oscar and Golden Globe Award winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) will direct all 11 episodes of the limited series The Underground Railroad, which is slated to premiere globally on Amazon Prime Video.

Based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling novel The Underground Railroad, the series is executive produced by Jenkins’ PASTEL and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. The story follows Cora, a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia, and Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia who tells her about the Underground Railroad. They decide to take a terrifying risk and escape.

Jenkins commented: “Working with Amazon and a wonderful group of screenwriters to develop Colson’s novel into a limited series has been an extremely rewarding experience. Translating his singular voice into a cohesive and equally singular visual language is a task I very much look forward to.”

“It’s an absolute gift to have Barry Jenkins commit to directing all the episodes for our upcoming limited series The Underground Railroad,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “Barry’s eye for character and sustained exhilarating, emotional storytelling style ensures that this project is in the right hands. We can’t wait to get started and bring this significant story to our Prime Video audience.”