From legendary director Tim Story, comes the new Lionsgate comedy The Blackening. Written by Tracy Oliver (Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), The Blackening follows seven tight-knit friends as they take a cabin vacation. The discovery of a mysterious board game with the stipulation of proving who is the “blackest” person coerces the group into a life and death game of cat and mouse.
The cast consists of several actors known for roles in popular television series, including Antoinette Robertson (Dear White People), Sinqua Walls (Power), Grace Byers (Harlem), Melvin Gregg (Snowfall), Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Jay Pharoah (Family Guy), and Perkins (The Upshaws). Leah Daniels Butler is accredited with principal casting.
The screenplay is based on a short penned by Perkins that was featured on Comedy Central in which the question was posed: If all the characters are Black in a horror film, who dies first? Cultural innuendos and spoofs of horror flicks, such as Saw and Cabin in the Woods, are enlisted throughout the fast-paced official trailer released early on Wednesday (March 1).
Producers onboard include Sharla Sumpter Bridgett, Marcei A. Brown, Jason Clark, E. Brian Dobbins, Oliver, and Story.
Watch the Official Trailer for ‘The Blackening’
The Blackening premieres exclusively in theaters on June 16, 2023.
