The life story of Beyonce's father Matthew Knowles is slated to be developed into a movie and a limited series, Variety has reported. Both projects will be based on his 2017 memoir, Racism From the Eyes of a Child.
The film will focus on the music mogul's experience growing up in Alabama in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement.
According to Variety, the film from the production company Say Unkel Entertainment will cover the first half of the book about Knowles' early years. He grew up in Gadsden, Alabama in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. There, Matthew was exposed to frequent race riots and was one of just six Black students to attend a formerly all-white school. The future music manager regularly engaged in peaceful protests and says he was once arrested four times in a single day.
The book also touches on Matthew's mother, a classmate of Coretta Scott King, and the impact other civil rights icons like Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Turner and Ralph Abernathy had on him.
"These are the men who made me proud and women who taught me to fight back," Matthew told Variety.
Matthew was the manager of the girl group Destiny's Child, where Beyonce got her start in the music industry.
His backstory has been a common theme in numerous Beyonce projects, including the song "Daddy," the music video for her track "Formation," and her most recent concert documentary Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce.
Matthew left a successful career in the healthcare realm to work in the music industry. He went on to start his own label called Music World Entertainment and was the manager for Destiny's Child, the R&B girl group where Beyonce got her start. In 2022, he sold Music World Entertainment to investment fund APX Capital Group and announced plans to create a film and TV co-production fund, with his own life story being among the early project ideas mentioned in the announcement.
His wife Tina Knowles recently made headlines when she defended Beyonce against allegations of racism.
Beyonce's mother Tina Knowles also made headlines last month when she defended her daughter against an army of online commenters claiming the singer was "racist." They believed this because the star wore a platinum wig and appeared to have a lighter complexion when she appeared at the premiere for Renaissance.
"How sad is it that some of her own people continue the stupid narrative with hate and jealousy," Tina said in an Instagram post about the topic. "Duh, she wore silver hair to match her silver dress as a fashion statement clown."
Beyonce and Jay-Z's 11-year-old daughter Blue Ivy has also been in the spotlight lately after she regularly performed on stage with the pop star during her most recent global tour.
Matthew's backstory has already been discussed by Beyonce in several pieces of media.
