Barry Jenkins to direct biopic of choreographer Alvin Ailey

Filmmaker Barry Jenkins has been signed on to direct biopic of legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey.

According to Variety, Julian Breece is writing the script for the project which was announced by Fox Searchlight in March 2018.

Ailey, who was raised in rural Texas by a single mother, founded the interracial Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City in 1958 and helped popularise modern dance. His "Revelations" became one of the most-performed modern dance pieces in history.

Ailey received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988, a year before he died at the age of 58 from AIDS-related complications.

In 2014, President Barack Obama selected Ailey to be a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys and Susan Lewis are producing the film through their banner AK Worldwide production company, along with Judy Kinberg, Rachel Cohen and Jana Edelbaum from iDeal Partners.

The untitled project is a co-production between AK Worldwide, iDeal Partners and Jenkins' Pastel.

The Academy Award-winning director will also serve as an executive producer alongside Jana Edelbaum and Susan Lewis.

The makers have also acquired rights to Jennifer Dunning's biography "Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance.