the-birth-of-a-nationHenry Jackman has been hired to score the upcoming drama The Birth of a Nation. The film marks the feature directorial debut of actor Nate Parker and stars himself, alongside Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union and Mark Boone Jr. The movie tells the true story of Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher whose financially strained owner accepts an offer to use his preaching to subdue unruly slaves and devises a plan to lead his people to freedom. Parker has also written the screenplay and is producing the project with Kevin Turen (99 Homes, Arbitrage), Jason Michael Berman (Seven Days in Utopia, LUV), Aaron L. Gilbert (Welcome to Me, A Single Shot) and Preston L. Holmes (She Hate Me, Waist Deep). Writer Davis S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Man of Steel) is among the movie’s executive producers. The Birth of a Nation is set to premiere in competition next month at the Sundance Film Festival.

Jackman’s upcoming projects also include the YA novel adaptation of The 5th Wave starring Chloe Grace Moretz, coming out in January, and Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, set to be released on May 6, 2016.