Michael B. Jordan Will Star In 'Journal For Jordan' For Director Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington has found his next directorial project, and he's bringing in a heavy-hitter to star. Michael B. Jordan will play the lead in the Washington-directed Journal for Jordan, based on the memoir by Dana Canedy. Canedy's book told the story of the love affair between herself and First Sergeant Charles Monroe King. King began writing a journal for his son Jordan while deployed, but was killed during the war in Iraq.Variety is reporting that Michael B. Jordan will star in Denzel Washington's Journal for Jordan. The Creed and Black Panther actor will also produce, along with Washington, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch. Mudbound screenwriter Virgil Williams will handle the script, adapting Dana Canedy's book A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor. Here's part of the book's synopsis:

In 2005, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King began to write what would become a two-hundred-page journal for his son in case he did not make it home from the war in Iraq. Charles King, forty-eight, was killed on October 14, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated under his Humvee on an isolated road near Baghdad. His son, Jordan, was seven months old.

A Journal for Jordan is a mother's letter to her son–fierce in its honesty–about the father he lost before he could even speak. It is also a father's advice and prayers for the son he will never know.

The book also tells of King and Canedy's love-affair, and how Canedy was unsatisfied with army's official version of King's death. The Pulitzer Prize–winning editor then took it upon herself to begin investigating King's last days with the hopes of finding the truth. The official book synopsis sums Journal for Jordan up as "a tender introduction, a loving good-bye, a reporter's inquiry into her soldier's life, and a heartrending reminder of the human cost of war."

This sounds like the type of emotionally wrenching, but ultimately inspiring, drama that ends up making audiences weep and awards voters go crazy. My guess is that whenever this film hits theaters, get ready to hear about it during Oscar season.

Journal for Jordan will be Washington's fourth time directing a feature film. The acclaimed actor previously helmed Antwone Fisher, The Great Debaters, and Fences. He also appeared in those films, but it's not clear if he'll have a part in Journal for Jordan as well. The idea of Washington and Jordan working together is damned exciting, as is the prospect of Jordan branching out into more serious drama outside of franchise films.