November 23/21 16:26 pm - Canadian Team to Produce & Direct New Movie on Major Taylor

Posted by Editoress on 11/23/21
 

Award-winning Canadian film director Clement Virgo will direct a new feature drama about the remarkable life and career of the bicycle racer "Major" Taylor. Filming will start in 2022, and the film will be titled Black Cyclone.

Inspired by the remarkable and critically acclaimed book "THE WORLD'S FASTEST MAN: The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America's First Black Sports Hero" by The Washington Post investigative reporter Michael Kranish, Black Cyclone is produced by Canadian-based Minds Eye Entertainment, the production studio behind the recently released Lionsgate action-thriller Dangerous starring Scott Eastwood, Kevin Durand, Tyrese Gibson, Famke Janssen and Mel Gibson.

Black Cyclone depicts the life story of the legendary bicycle racer Marshall Walter Taylor. Better known to the world as "Major" Taylor, Marshall made history becoming the world's fastest man at the turn of the 20th century and America's first Black world champion at the height of the Jim Crow era. Black Cyclone is a compelling sports saga set in the late 1890s and early 1900s, the drama of how Major Taylor confronted racism, both subtle and deadly, yet triumphed with sheer will, the love of a woman, and his troubled alliances with a Black trainer and a white promoter.

Clement Virgo, one of Canada's foremost film directors, is attached to direct the feature. Virgo's previous projects include a six-part miniseries adaptation of Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes, Netflix drama The Get Down, Showtime series Billions, as well as several critically acclaimed features such as Poor Boy's Game, Lie With Me and Rude.

"Major Taylor was a fascinating enigma, an athlete ahead of his time. I'm excited to collaborate in sharing the story of the fastest man in the world." - Clement Virgo, Director

Chris Kirkman, Rashid Bahati, Eric Mika, Natasha Semone Vassell will serve as executive producers, with Rahsaan Bahati, a 10-time U.S. Pro Champion Cyclist, joining as a consultant for the project. John Howard, a three-time Olympic cyclist and author of Pushing the Limits, Dirt!, The Cyclist's Companion and Mastering Cycling, will also act as a consultant and executive producer on the film.