Phillip Noyce to direct episodes of 'Roots' remake

Directors Phillip Noyce and Thomas Carter have each signed on to helm an episode for the four-night, eight-hour event series Roots, A+E Networks said.

Noyce and Carter will film the first and third parts respectively, while the directors for the second and fourth nights are to be announced at a later date.

Questlove, leader of the Grammy Award-winning band The Roots, is to serve as the executive music producer. He will create for the miniseries the authentic African sound and themes for the characters, as well as produce the overall sound as the music progresses each night, the cable television network said.

Laurence Fishburne will head the cast of the remake of the groundbreaking, 1970s miniseries, which will be simulcast on A&E, History and Lifetime in 2016.

The new version of Roots is described in press notes as "a historical portrait of American slavery recounting the journey of one family's will to survive, endure and ultimately carry on their legacy despite enormous hardship and inhumanity.

"Spanning multiple generations, the lineage begins with young Kunta Kinte who is captured in his homeland in The Gambia and transported in brutal conditions to colonial America where he's sold into slavery. Throughout the series, the family continues to face adversity while bearing witness and contributing to notable events in U.S. history -- including the Revolutionary and Civil wars, slave uprisings and eventual emancipation. The story of Kunta Kinte and the women and men who came after him echoes through the history of millions of Americans of African descent, and reveals powerful truths about the universal resilience of the human spirit."