Boots Riley added filmmaker to his resumé with 2018's Sorry To Bother You, a surreal and darkly comic examination of capitalism and race. Today, the acclaimed multi-hyphenate has announced his follow-up: I’m A Virgo, a new series starring Jharrel Jerome as a 13-foot-tall Black man living in Oakland:
Along with a brief description, Riley revealed teaser artwork for the series created by Colin Laurel, a Black trans artist. The series, which does not yet have a network or streaming distributor (though we imagine that’ll change pretty damn quickly), is described by Riley as “dark, absurd, hilarious, and important”—not unlike Sorry To Bother You, which starred Lakeith Stanfield as a Black telemarketer who achieves more success when he puts on a white voice. Co-starring Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, and Armie Hammer, the film follows Stanfield’s Cash as he finds himself thrust into a surreal world of corporate conspiracy that puts him at odds with friends and loved ones.
Riley’s directorial debut holds a 93% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned him an award for Best First Feature at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards. The filmmaker has yet to offer additional details regarding I’m A Virgo, but based on that artwork and the casting of Jerome (of Moonlight and When They See Us fame) in the lead role, we’re already extremely on board.