Black Cake: trailer of historical drama series, cast, and Disney+ release date - is it based on a book?

The first trailer for Disney+ drama Black Cake, from executive producer Oprah Winfrey, has just dropped ahead of a UK streaming release date later this month.

Black Cake takes place in Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, England, Wales and Southern California whilst the series spans over decades of history. In the late 1960s, a runaway bride named Covey disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica and is feared drowned or a fugitive on the run for her husband’s murder. 

In present day California, a widow named Eleanor Bennett, loses her battle with cancer, leaving her two estranged children, Byron and Benny, a hard drive that holds previously untold stories of her journey from the Caribbean to America. These stories, narrated by Eleanor, shock her children and challenge everything they thought they knew about their family’s origin.

Is there a trailer for Black Cake?

Yes there is, and you can watch it right here:

Who is in the cast of Black Cake?

• Adrienne Warren as Benny Bennett
• Chipo Chung as Eleanor Bennett
• Ashley Thomas as Byron Bennett
• Glynn Turman as Charles Mitch
• Mia Isaac as Coventina 'Covey' Brown
• Lashay Anderson as Bunny Pringle
• Ahmed Elhaj as Gibbs Grant
• Faith Alabi as Pearl Thomas
• Sonita Henry as Mabel Martin
• Anthony Mark Barrow as Clarence 'Little Man' Henry
• Simon Wan as Lin
• Elliot Cowan as Steve
• Jade Eshete as Mathilda
• Joey Akubeze as Clarence's Brother
• Samuel Lorenzo Bulgin as Percival Henry
• Rebecca Naomi Jones as Lynette
• Daniel Bonjour as Marc

Is Black Cake based on a book?

Black cake is adapted from Charmaine Wilkerson’s best-selling debut novel of the same name, published in 2022. Wilkerson, Caribbean-American journalist from New York who currently lives in Rome.

The novel’s title comes from a traditional Caribbean food that Wilkerson’s mother made, and the story is inspired by her own Jamaican heritage and the idea of passing on culture through food. Oprah Winfrey’s production company, Harpo Films, secured TV rights for the book before it had even been published, and Winfrey works as an executive producer on the series.

Wilkerson has since written Deluge, a short story and part of the Good Intentions series on themes of motherhood.

Black Cake was adapted for television by showrunner Marissa Jo Cerar who has previously worked on The Handmaid’s Tale, Women of the Movement,13 Reasons Why, and Shots Fired. 

When is the release date of Black Cake?

The Original drama series will premiere all episodes on January 31 only on Disney+ in the UK.