Dana Canedy’s “A Journal for Jordan”: What to Expect from the TRUE STORY turned Film

Senior Vice President and Publisher of the Simon and Schuster imprint, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Dana Canedy is the author of the 2008 New York Times bestselling memoir, A Journal For Jordan. The memoir is about life with her war-hero partner, Sergeant Charles Monroe King, and the journal he left for their infant son before being killed in combat in Iraq. A true story, Dana reveals her life-altering relationship with King and his enduring devotion to their child. The book has been optioned for a movie by Denzel Washington and Columbia Pictures. It has been adapted for film by Mudbound co-writer, Oscar nominee,Virgil Williams for Mr. Washington and Todd Black of Escape Artists, who are producing the project. Mr. Washington is directing the movie, with Michael B. Jordan starring as King and Chanté Adams as Canedy. Chanté Adams starred in the 2017 biopic Roxanne Roxanne, which granted her the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Performance.

We’ve recently seen Michael B. Jordan star in one riveting action film after another, and now he graces his audience with a dose of romance for the holiday season. Expected to be released this winter, Jordan tells USA Today, “I’ve done a lot of physical roles, because that’s been my appetite. I’m 34; the last seven years has been (about) physically developing into your sweet spot.” Ready to be even more vulnerable in his art, Jordan welcomed the role. “I consider myself a romantic. I like love. I’ve had an amazing example of what love looks like growing up,” says Jordan, noting he naturally gravitates toward “being able to be a person of service. … There’s a certain level of catering to that I enjoy.”

All-star creatives, the artists responsible for bringing this story of love and devotion to family and legacy to the big screen will not disappoint. Canedy’s ability to evoke character makes the account of King’s life and death not simply a story about the injustice of war. Canedy allows King to come alive for her son and reader’s in the original bestselling New York Times memoir.In turning the pages, Canedy’s son can breathe in his father’s life and find understanding in his advice. Writing gifts the opportunity for people to express themselves freely without interruption. In leaving the journal for his son, King left a tangible piece of his heart.

The screenplay adaptation of A Journal for Jordan by Virgil Williams is expected to ‘pull at the heartstrings’ of the audience. In times like these, it will be a welcomed holiday treat. Everyone loves a little romance around the holidays. Jordan and Adams bring King and Canedy’s story to light with such grace and commitment. In a letter to his son, King writes, “Dear Jordan, just take one look at your mother, that will tell you what I think beautiful is. Love is a choice Jordan, and real love means you have to sacrifice. The pain is temporary. Real love lasts forever, but remember Jordan, you have to fight for it.” – Trailor, A Journal for Jordan.

A Journal for Jordan shares a sweeping account of a couple’s once-in-a-lifetime love, the beauty and vulnerability embedded in a father’s love for his son and a mother’s desire to keep her love’s legacy alive.