Jarid Manos’ acclaimed novel Ghetto Plainsman is getting the big screen treatment. Set in the 1980’s and 1990’s in New York City, Ghetto Plainsman follows Marcus; a young man dealing with identity and a deep self-loathing while getting caught up in the gritty worlds of drug dealing and prostitution. Hill Harper, Sasheer Zamata, Angelica Ross and Whoopi Goldberg are set to star in the film.

Goldberg will play an androgynous drug lord running the operation that Marcus works for. Zamata will play his college friend who tries desperately to save her friend from descending into chaos. Ross will play Tiffany, a transgender woman who is a prostitute and Marcus’ neighbor. Hill will play Thomas, a lawyer and environmental activist, who is Marcus’ would-be love interest.

The role of Marcus has not yet been cast.

Ghetto Plainsman has been a labor of love for me for several years, and I’m ecstatic and grateful to have this amazing cast join the project,” Writer/Producer Carlton Jordan said in a statement sent to EBONY.com. “When I initially read the book in 2013, I knew for sure I wanted to make a film out of it. For the past several years, I’ve been pushing this project forward with my EP Barry Johnson, Director Jordan Walker-Pearlman and author Jarid Manos. I think audiences will get Moonlight vibes from the film because of how we explore sex, sexuality, and gender – but the ecological activism part will hopefully prompt more Black folks from all walks of life, to be concerned with how we treat nature. ”

“Movies directly impact our perceptions of ourselves and others,” Executive Producer Barry Jonson added. “Ghetto Plainsman entertains while delivering social impact and empathy that is perfectly timed and desperately needed here and abroad. It’s an untold hero’s journey that invites us to go beyond played stereotypes and baseless biases to a place of accepting and celebrating human diversity–inner and outer.”

Filming for Ghetto Plainsman will begin late summer.