Marlon James/Star Tribune photo by Renee Jones Schneider

Twin Cities writer Marlon James is going Hollywood. The Macalester College professor has just signed a deal to bring his prize-winning novel "A Brief History of Seven Killings" to Amazon Prime -- and he's teaming up with a big gun.

Melina Matsoukas, best known for directing Beyonce's "Formation," HBO's "Insecure" and several episodes of Aziz Ansari's "Master of None," will serve as the series director and as an executive producer alongside James.

"'A Brief History of Seven Killings' is a complex story that needs to be told, about a people whose voices need to be heard," Matsoukas said in a statement. "I am deeply honored to be entrusted with this tapestry of stories so entrenched in roots, reggae, race, mysticism and politics, while working alongside Marlon to ensure an authentic portrayal of his words."

James will write the series.

The Jamaican writer's third novel won numerous honors, including the 2015 Man Booker Prize. A Quentin Tarantino-esque work that covers the world of drugs and political violence from 1970s Jamaica to 1980s New York, "Seven Killings," revolves around the attempted assassination of reggae icon Bob Marley. It uses the attack as a touchstone for a dizzying mosaic of social history, with a wild cast of characters — CIA spies, gang bosses, politicians, musicians, lovers and dreamers.

When he won the Booker Prize two years ago, James told the Star Tribune that he had written a screenplay for a pilot series that he hoped to sell to HBO.