Breakout start John Boyega has continued to skyrocket to higher and higher levels of fame since his Star Wars debut. Between prepping for another Star Wars and suiting up for Pacific Rim 2, both big budget films, Boyega has set aside some time for something a little less blockbuster and a little more topical.
According to the The Hollywood Reporter the young actor’s latest endeavor is a film collaboration with director Kathryn Bigelow, and it’s about the Detroit riots in 1967. (The film was announced in January.) Boyega is to star in the untitled film, though it’ll have an ensemble cast. He even took to twitter to express his excitement, starting the hashtag #12thstreet, a name which comes from the street where the riots primarily occurred.
Bigelow’s last big film was way, way back in 2012, with Zero Dark Thirty, which was also Based on a True Story. For this one, inspired by the violent five-day long riot, the filmmaker’s go-to screenwriter, Mark Boal, has produced an original script.
There’s limited information on the project at the moment besides many murmurs of enthusiasm, but a release date is anticipated to be around 2017, right around the 50th anniversary of the riots.
