Filming has started for the highly-anticipated film adaptation of One Night In Miami, Regina King’s directorial debut. Production is set in New Orleans, as reported by Deadline.
Penned by Kemp Powers (Star Trek: Discovery), the film rehashes the night that boxer Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali, defeated Sonny Liston in their 1964 heavyweight champion match in Miami Beach, Florida and celebrated with his equally famous friends; football player Jim Brown, activist Malcolm X and R&B singer Sam Cooke.
Set in the segregated South during the Civil Rights Movement, the iconic group of alpha males share dialogue on everything from their struggles with racism to the enlightenment of the black community.
Canadian actor Eli Goree (Riverdale, Ballers) has been cast to play Cassius Clay. Malcolm X will be portrayed by Kingsley Ben-Adir, known for his roles in Peaky Blinders and King Arthus: Legend of the Sword, while Aldis Hodge (What Men Want) will play Jim Brown and Leslie Odom Jr. (Harriet) will play Sam Cooke.
“One Night in Miami is a love letter to Black manhood that powerfully explores themes of race, identity and friendship,” says King. “Each of them has contributed so much to culture and history. We’re so excited to have Kingsley, Eli, Aldis and Leslie in the lead roles showing a different side of these iconic men.”
Powers originally wrote the story for the stage play that debuted at the Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles in 2013. The award-winning stage play was recognized by the NAACP, LA Drama Critics Circle and the LA Weekly.
With 14 TV directing credits under her belt, King directed episodes for TV series Insecure, Shameless, This Is Us, Greenleaf, Scandal and Southland. Her acting credits are voluminous beginning her career in the role of Brenda Jenkins in 227, a cult-classic TV series that aired from 1985 to 1990.
Since then, she has become a Hollywood fave acting in films Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Friday, and Ray. She recently won a Golden Globe and Oscar for her role in the award-winning film If Beale Street Could Talk.
The film is produced by Jess Wu and Keith Calder for Snoot Entertainment and Jody Klein of ABKCO Films.
A release date for One Night In Miami has not been reported.
