Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker is reportedly in talks to direct and act in a supporting role in a movie version of William Paul Young’s book the Shack. The story chronicles a man grieving the loss of his daughter, a victim to a brutal murder. The man, Mackensie, encounters God in the shed where his child died.
Idris Elba is rumored to be cast in the lead role of Mackensie, and Oprah is said to be considered for an unknown part. It is speculated that she will play Papa (in the person of an African American woman) – one of the three versions of God that Mackensie encounters while in the shed. Mackensie also meets Jesus, in the person of a Jewish Carpenter, and Sarayu, a woman of Asian descent who is the Holy Spirit.
Summer will mark the beginning of the shooting of this $30 million film by Lionsgate. Atlanta and Vancouver are potential locations. The New York Times bestselling book The Shack, sold over 18 million copies.
