‘Shots Fired’: Sanaa Lathan to Star in Gina Prince-Bythewood TV Project

‘Shots Fired’: Sanaa Lathan to Star in Gina Prince-Bythewood TV Project


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Love & Basketball fans, rejoice. Two favorites on the big screen will unite yet again for a new TV show that explores the dangerous aftermath of racially charged shootings. 

[Related: Blair Underwood’s Advice to Black Creatives: If You Want More, Create More]

Deadline.com reports that actress Sanaa Lathan will star in Shots Fired, a Gina Prince-Bythewood directed project that has been picked up by Fox and is set to premiere in 2016. The show was also written by Prince-Bythewood and her husband, Reggie Rock Bythewood.

Empire executive producer Brian Grazer is also involved with the project, which includes one storyline of an African American cop killing a white teen. Lathan plays an expert investigator who digs into the shootings, alongside a special prosecutor sent to the town by the Department of Justice. The pair face media attention, public debate, and social unrest that comes with the cases, while trying to ensure that justice is served in them all.

“Gina and Reggie have crafted a profoundly moving portrayal of a timely and sensitive issue that pervades our culture at this very moment,” David Madden, president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Co. told reporters. “This is not only an important story to tell, but also an explosive mystery-thriller, and we couldn’t be in better hands both with the creative team behind this, along with the very talented Sanaa Lathan leading the cast.”

First put into development on Oct. 6, according to reports, Shots Fired is Prince-Bythewood’s first return to TV since working on shows including episodes of A Different World, Felicity, and Girlfriends. For Lathan, the new gig marks her return to the small screen after starring in The Perfect Stranger on the big screen with Michael Ealy and Morris Chestnut and TV roles on Boss, Nip/Tuck, Family Guy, and The Cleveland Show.


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