If there was any chance of Jeff Nichols (Mud) directing Aquaman it's probably gone now. Nichols has agreed to direct Loving, a drama starring Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby) and Ruth Negga (Agents of SHIELD) based on the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple whose landmark Supreme Court case opened the door to mixed-race marriages across the country.
The film is based on Nancy Buirski's incredible HBO documentary, The Loving Story, which recounted the 1967 Supreme Court civil rights case, Loving vs. Virginia, which challenged the constitutionality of deeming interracial marriages illegal...
Richard and Mildred Loving were married in June of 1958. As a result, authorities broke into their home, arrested them, and they were sentenced to a year in the state penitentiary. This sentence was suspended on the condition that they be exiled from the state of Virginia. Richard and Mildred would spend the next nine years fighting to get home. All of this, because Richard was a white man and Mildred a black woman. LOVING is a story about marrying the one you want and finding the one you need.Edgerton, who will be seen next in Black Mass opposite Johnny Depp, is also part of Nichols' next film, Midnight Special. Negga is a regular on Agents of SHIELD and will be part of Seth Rogen's Preacher series on AMC. Here's what Nichols had to say about Loving...
“I was struck by the simplicity of The Loving Story, and I hope to make this a painfully beautiful film."
