--- ---  # Jay Z and Will Smith Are Producing an Emmett Till Miniseries ## Video: 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfrXo5zL.m3u8) (5:21)  _Published 2014-02-12. Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. No Intermission._ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 25, 2015 3:03 PM UTC  Actor Will Smith (L) and Rapper Jay-Z arrive at the Gucci and RocNation Pre-GRAMMY brunch held at Soho House on February 12, 2011 in West Hollywood, California. Actor Will Smith (L) and Rapper Jay-Z arrive at the Gucci and RocNation Pre-GRAMMY brunch held at Soho House on February 12, 2011 in West Hollywood, California.Charley Gallay—2011 Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 25, 2015 3:03 PM UTC Jay Z and Will Smith are reuniting as [producers](http://deadline.com/2015/07/emmett-till-hbo-miniseries-jay-z-will-smith-aaron-kaplan-1201484296/), and this time, their subject matter promises to be much heavier than their 2014 remake of _Annie_. The pair has announced they are working with Aaron Kaplan on a miniseries for HBO about Emmett Till, _Deadline_ reports. Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old, was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955 as retaliation for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The woman’s husband and his half-brother were acquitted of the crime, but later confessed their guilt—though double jeopardy meant they could not be tried again. Till’s gruesome death became a powerful symbol and rallying cry for the civil rights movement. Several other Emmett Till projects are also currently in the works: [one backed by Roger Ebert’s widow, Chaz](http://deadline.com/2015/05/emmett-till-movie-death-of-innocence-chaz-ebert-shatterglass-1201427674/), and [one adapted from the play _The Face of Emmett Till_](http://variety.com/2015/film/news/face-of-emmett-till-movie-adaptation-1201501204/). No writer is attached to the HBO project yet, but the series is expected to run about six hours. \[[_Deadline_](http://deadline.com/2015/07/emmett-till-hbo-miniseries-jay-z-will-smith-aaron-kaplan-1201484296/)\] Jay Z and Will Smith Are Producing an Emmett Till Miniseries ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3972215/emmett-till-miniseries/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3972215/emmett-till-miniseries/"},"headline":"Jay Z and Will Smith Are Producing an Emmett Till Miniseries","datePublished":"2015-07-25T15:03:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:35:20.628Z","description":"The show will run on HBO","url":"https://time.com/3972215/emmett-till-miniseries/","keywords":["Television","HBO","Jay-z","will smith"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e2c586291b0fbd/69885c75cd1bbaefe96fc6fd/jay-z-will-smith.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e2c586291b0fbd/69885c75cd1bbaefe96fc6fd/jay-z-will-smith.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gucci And RocNation Pre-GRAMMY Brunch - Red Carpet","caption":"Gucci And RocNation Pre-GRAMMY Brunch - Red Carpet","creditText":"Charley Gallay—2011 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3972215/emmett-till-miniseries/","name":"Jay Z and Will Smith Are Producing an Emmett Till Miniseries"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes","description":"Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. No Intermission.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tfrXo5zL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-12T15:57:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfrXo5zL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3972215/emmett-till-miniseries/","duration":"PT5M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3972215/emmett-till-miniseries/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```