Prentice Penny will direct the film adaptation of Jerry Craft’s graphic novel New Kid. It’s a New York Times Bestseller and is a Newbery Medal winner. The graphic novel follows Jordan Banks who experiences culture shock as one of the few kids of color at a reputable private school. A Texas school district banned this book and many others and Craft’s other book Class Act. A parent complained that the former supported critical race theory. Prentice Penny will direct the film adaptation of New Kid with Eli Wilson Pelton writing the script. Universal Pictures is making the film adaptation of New Kid after acquiring rights from LeBron James’ The SpringHill Company. James and Maverick Carter from SpringHill will produce the film New Kid. Penny made his directorial debut in the Netflix film Uncorked now it’s onto the Universal Pictures film adaptation of New Kid.
Prentice Penny Goes from the Small Screen to the Big Screen
Prentice Penny served as the showrunner for the HBO hit series Insecure. He got his start as a writer’s trainee on the series Girlfriends. He was a writer and producer for the series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Hustle, and Scrubs. The up-and-coming director hosted the show Upscale with Prentice Penny. Prentice Penny and Chris Pollack will executive produce the New Kid film via A Penny For Your Thoughts. He has been making a name for himself through projects, and his next big project is Craft’s book adaptation. The book already caused controversy for existing in Texas, so critics will have to wait on how the Universal Pictures film adaptation turns out. The New Kid film will be Penny’s chance to show his skills to a different audience. His scriptwriter Eli Wilson Pelton is a producer on Bridgerton, and they previously worked together on Insecure.
Penny has worked with Wilson Pelton before and has experience directing a film, but there is always room to prove he can do more.
