Clement Virgo’s Black Cyclone
by Staff Editors
(November 22, 2021 – Toronto, ON) Mind’s Eye Entertainment has announced that multiple award-winning director, Clement Virgo (The Book of Negroes, Billions, The Get Down, Lie with Me, Poor Boy’s Game), will direct a new feature drama about the remarkable life and career of the bicycle racer Marshall Walter Taylor titled Black Cyclone.
Inspired by the remarkable and critically acclaimed book “THE WORLD’S FASTEST MAN: The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America’s First Black Sports Hero” by The Washington Post investigative reporter Michael Kranish, Black Cyclone focuses on the life story of “Major” Taylor, as he was widely know. He made history becoming the world’s fastest man at the turn of the 20th century and America’s first Black world champion at the height of the Jim Crow era. It’s a compelling sports saga set in the late 1890s and early 1900s, but also a compelling drama of how Major Taylor confronted racism, both subtle and deadly, yet triumphed with sheer will, the love of a woman, and his troubled alliances with a Black trainer and a white promoter.
“Major Taylor was a fascinating enigma, an athlete ahead of his time. I’m excited to collaborate in sharing the story of the fastest man in the world,” said director Clement Virgo.
Minds Eye Entertainment, the production studio behind the recently released Lionsgate action-thriller Dangerous starring Scott Eastwood, Kevin Durand, Tyrese Gibson, Famke Janssen and Mel Gibson. Kevin Dewalt (The Recall, Daughter of the Wolf, Dangerous) is producing Black Cyclone from Robert Eisele’s script (The Great Debaters, The Senior, Hurricane Season).
Chris Kirkman, Rashid Bahati, Eric Mika, Natasha Semone Vassell will serve as executive producers, with Rahsaan Bahati, a 10-time U.S. Pro Champion Cyclist, joining as a consultant for the project. John Howard, a three-time Olympic cyclist and author of Pushing the Limits, Dirt!, The Cyclist’s Companion and Mastering Cycling, will also act as a consultant and executive producer on the film. Production is set to begin in 2022. Minds Eye Entertainment will be handling Distribution.
Learn more about Clement Virgo.
SOURCE: Minds Eye Entertainment
