In 1969 the newly formed Los Angeles SWAT department were sent off on their first major mission. They were to raid the Black Panther Party’s headquarters.

One of the most intense stand offs in LA’s history ensued, a four hour armed standoff that we can only imagine was a little more than nailbiting.

History, suspense and black history too! With Netflix’s recent treatment of black subjects there is a bit of hope they will do a good job on this but I do have some concerns.

So Netflix will be bringing the dramatised version of this stand off as a movie named “The Stand Off”.

Now, my first concern, it will be presented from both perspectives….. The police and the Panthers. I don’t know how they will balance that.

Second, The Fast And The Furious films and most recently Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin has been drafted to direct. Black Swan writer Mark Heyman will script.

Heyman is an acomplished writer for sure and Lin makes entertainment that keeps the suspense up BUT neither is black (to my knowledge) and that’s of course cause for concern when dealing with this topic.

Deadline reported:

Lin is producing through his Perfect Storm Entertainment banner along with Material Pictures’ Tobey Maguire and Matthew Plouffe, and Ben Shields Catlin. Troy Craig Poon is exec producer. PSE’s Mary Lee will oversee the project. Heyman hatched the project and they developed it as a directing vehicle for Lin, who gets back to his gritty indie origins like his directing debut Better Luck Tomorrow. When the pitch went out, there were multiple bids, but Lin and Heyman chose Netflix. The auction predated the hiring of Scott Stuber as Netflix’s head of features, but Stuber interceded in locking down a few outstanding deal points and made this a done deal over the past few days. CAA and Cinetic rep Lin, CAA and Grandview rep Heyman.

Do you think there is room for them to a good job on this? Do you think it should be at very least black helmed?