Ava DuVernay may not have her film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time coming out until next year, but at least she has the second season premiere of her tv series Queen Sugar to look forward to. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the second season will premiere June 20th and 21st, in a two-night special event on OWN, each at 10 pm.
The 16-episode second season was ordered even before the first season premiered, but lived up to expectations, being the most watched series by African-Americans in 2016. The first season, which aired from September through November of last year, pulled in nearly 2.7 million viewers for its pilot episode and kept above 1.4 million viewers every episode thereafter. The series follows the journey of three siblings who move to the modern-day Louisiana to take-over their deceased father’s 800-acre sugarcane plantation.
Along with the premiere announcement, it was also announced that Hulu will have the exclusive rights to stream Queen Sugar. The first season is set to premiere on the site on April 21st.
OWN also announced the female directors that will bring season 2 to life. These directors include Kat Chandler, DeMane Davis, Cheryl Dune, Aurora Guerrero, and Amanda Marsalis. Just as their first season did, this season features all female directors, in an effort to combat the disappointing statistics of female directors in Hollywood. Hulu’s Harlots, which premiered last month, is the only other tv series on air that also does this.
DuVernay is the creator/past-showrunner of the series, while Oprah Winfrey serves as an executive producer. DuVernay also directed the first two episodes of the first season. The first season saw DuVernay and Melissa Carter serve as showrunners, but the second season will hand off the reins to Monica Macer (Nashville, Prison Break, Lost). Warner Horizon Television and Harpo Productions will still be producing.
Queen Sugar is based on the novel written by Natalie Baszile, who by chance, met Leigh Haber, the book editor for Oprah magazine, at a writer’s retreat. Haber was so impressed by the pages she read that she passed on the book to Harpo Productions, Oprah’s production company, and they optioned the rights, and later purchased the rights for the book. Although the book only has two siblings, the series has three siblings: Nova Bordelon (Rutina Wesley), a journalist/activist from New Orleans, Charley Bordelon-West (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), an LA-based mom and wife of NBA star, and Ralph Angel Bordelon (Kofi Siriboe), an unemployed single father, who previously was in jail.
Tune in on June 20 & 21 for the second season premiere of Queen Sugar.