'Six Triple Eight': Kerry, Oprah to lead World War II drama

WASHINGTON [US]: 'Six Triple Eight', Tyler Perry's upcoming Netflix film, has an all-star cast led by Kerry Washington and Oprah Winfrey.

According to Variety, a US-based news outlet, Washington will also executive produce the film, which tells the inspirational story of World War II's only all-Black, all-female battalion.

An impressive ensemble cast stars alongside Washington and Winfrey, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Jay Reeves, Jeante Godlock, Moriah Brown, Baadja-Lyne Odums, Gregg Sulkin, as well as Dean Norris, Sam Waterston, and Susan Sarandon.

In addition to directing and producing the movie, Tyler Perry also created the screenplay based on an essay by Kevin M. Hymel on the 6888th Postal Directory Battalion, which included 855 Black women.

The piece was published in WWII History Magazine by Sovereign Media. These women were assigned the monumental task of going through and delivering the three-year backlog of undeliverable mail when they joined the war effort. Their narrative has been kept out of history books and out of the public eye for close to 75 years.

But on March 14, 2022, President Joe Biden approved the legislation granting women the highest award bestowed by Congress--the Congressional Gold Medal. In an August 2022 interview with Variety, Perry gave a sneak peek at the film, teasing that it would be about "some fantastic people that were forgotten for years". In December, Netflix made the movie official.

The movie's production got underway earlier this week. 'Six Triple Eight' is the fourth movie Tyler Perry has helmed for Netflix, following 'A Fall From Grace', 'A Madea Homecoming', and 'A Jazzman's Blues'.

The project is produced by Perry; Nicole Avant for Her Excellency Productions; Keri Selig for Intuition Productions; Carlota Espinosa; Angi Bones and Tony Strickland for Tyler Perry Studios. Mandalay Pictures' Peter Guber executive produces the project alongside Washington.