Terry McMillan, the commendable author behind the 1992 NYT best-selling novel Waiting to Exhale, has confirmed via Twitter that it will receive a television adaptation through 20th Television. Lee Daniels is set to produce and Anthony Hemingway will direct the series.
“So, WAITING TO EXHALE is going to be a TV series,” McMillan announced in a Twitter post. “Produced by Lee Daniels. Attica Locke and Tembi Locke are writing. Anthony Hemingway will direct. I lucked out.”
In 1995, Waiting to Exhale was adapted into a successful romance feature film by 20th Century Fox that starred Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, Angela Bassett, and Lela Rochon. Forest Whitaker made his directorial debut with the feature, and it grossed over $81 million worldwide.
While it is evident that the series will not be a sequel to the 1995 film, there are still multiple questions that remain unanswered. We don’t yet know if the original cast from the movie will co-star, or how the series will honor Whitney Houston, who played Savannah, as well as Marvin, played by the late Gregory Hines. However, Loretta Devine revealed insider information about the series before McMillan officially confirmed the news. “I think they’re doing something about the kids of the women, and I think that’s going to be coming out so look forward, there’s a lot of stuff that is being developed to look forward to,” she said in an interview with Tamron Hall.
We look forward to learning more about this exciting new venture! If you haven’t yet read the novel, be sure to pick up a copy at your local bookstore.
