Sanaa Lathan Takes On Race And Gun Violence In New FOX Series 'Shots Fired'

The brilliant mind behind Love & Basketball is back with another banger.

Gina Prince-Bythewood, who wrote and directed the hit 2000 drama, is once again collaborating with Sanaa Lathan on Shots Fired, an upcoming FOX series focused on racially-charged shootings in a small southern town.

“It was like working with family,” Lathan said about working with Prince-Bythewood more than a decade after Love & Basketball hit theaters.

The show will explore the events that follow the shooting death of an unarmed white college student by an African-American police officer. Lathan will star as Ashe Akino, a seasoned investigator with the Department of Justice.

“[I] love the fact that she is flawed, layered and complicated,” said Lathan of the character.

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Canadian actor Stephan James, who recently played Olympian Jesse Owens in Race and who also appeared in Selma, portrays a special prosecutor sent to the town by the Department of Justice. The dramatic event series will also star Helen Hunt, Mack Wilds and several others.

Co-creator Reggie Rock Bythewood will join his wife on the “10-hour film” which aims to provide a unique perspective on race and gun violence in America at a time when the country is struggling to grapple with both.

“[We hope this show will] challenge perspectives in a way that has never been challenged on television before,” he said.

The Bythewoods have collaborated in the past on projects like Beyond The Lights, The Secret Life of Bees and BET’s Gun Hill.