We are thrilled to announce that after a heated bidding war, Hulu has landed Black Cake, a drama based on Charmaine Wilkerson’s fabulous debut novel with a series order. It is being adapted by screenwriter Marissa Jo Cerar who will also act as showrunner on the series after Charmaine’s book was optioned by Kapital Entertainment in association with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films. Both Aaron Kaplan and Oprah Winfrey will act as executive producers on the series.
Black Cake is a family drama wrapped in a murder mystery with a diverse cast of characters and a global setting. The story takes place in Jamaica, Rome, Scotland, England and Southern California.
In the late 1960s, a runaway bride named Covey disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica and is feared drowned or a fugitive on the run for her husband’s murder. Fifty years later in California, Eleanor Bennett, a widow in her 60s, loses her battle with cancer, leaving her two estranged children a flash drive that holds previously untold stories of her journey from the Caribbean to America. These stories, narrated by Eleanor, shock her children and challenge everything they thought they knew about their family’s origin.
The drama drew multiple bids and big commitments from streamers, with Marissa Jo Cerar opting to go to Hulu because of her great experience working with Dana Walden, Chairman of Entertainment at Walt Disney Television, and Craig Erwich, President of ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals, on ABC’s Women of the Movement.
Cerar’s credits also include Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, sharing in the series’ Outstanding Drama Series Emmy nomination and Drama Series WGA Award nomination. She also worked on Netflix’s popular original series 13 Reasons Why, Freeform’s The Fosters and Fox’s Shots Fired.
Black Cake is due to be published in the UK by Michael Joseph and in the US by Ballantine in early 2022 as one of their lead titles.
The t deal was brokered by Josie Freedman at ICM Partners on behalf of the Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency.
We are so excited to see Black Cake on screen, but we would definitely recommend you read the book first! Pre-order your copy here.
