Amazon Studios announced Oscar and Golden Globe Award-winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) will direct all 11 episodes of the highly anticipated greenlit limited series The Underground Railroad which will premiere globally on Amazon Prime Video. Based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling novel "The Underground Railroad," which also won the National Book Award and was an Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick, the series is executive produced by Jenkins’ PASTEL and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment.

Jenkins commented: “Working with Amazon and a wonderful group of screenwriters to develop Colson’s novel into a limited series has been an extremely rewarding experience. Translating his singular voice into a cohesive and equally singular visual language is a task I very much look forward to.” 

Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said, “It’s an absolute gift to have Barry Jenkins commit to directing all the episodes for our upcoming limited series The Underground Railroad. Barry’s eye for character and sustained exhilarating, emotional storytelling style ensures that this project is in the right hands.”