When you get plucked from (almost) obscurity* to star in Star Wars, you career can go one of two ways: you can be Harrison Ford and become the biggest star in the world, or you can be Mark Hamill, and end up doing videogames and the convention circuit (tho to be fair, he was the best-ever Joker in Batman: The Animated Series).
John Boyega appears to be taking the Harrison Ford route. He’s already signed up for the Pacific Rim sequel, and now he’s got another sick-sounding project coming up. Boyega is going to star in a currently untitled period crime movie set in Detroit, to be directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty). It’s going to be set against the Detroit riots that took place in 1967, where five days of unrest was sparked by a police raid on an unlicensed bar. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will “explore the systemic racism in the city” at the time.
Bigelow is one of the greatest directors in the world at melding action scenes with weightier subject matter, and combined with a starring role from Boyega and the subject matter, this could be very special. It’s due to arrive sometime in 2017.
*Don’t worry, we do know about ‘Attack The Block’, but in America he was basically unknown.
