Bleecker Street has acquired the US rights to the dramatic thriller 892, starring John Boyega, Finn in the Star Wars sequels, and the late Michael Kenneth Williams, Omar Little in The Wire.
The film recently made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in U.S. Dramatic Competition, where it won its Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast. The independently financed distributor is planning a late-summer release in theaters nationwide.
Based on a true story, the feature directorial debut of Abi Damaris Corbin picks up with former U.S. Marine Brian Brown-Easley (Boyega) as his disability check from Veterans Affairs fails to materialize, watching as he finds himself on the brink of poverty. Desperate and with no other options, he walks into a Wells Fargo Bank and says, “I’ve got a bomb.” What ensues is an edge-of-your-seat narrative that reminds us of the social responsibility we have to our soldiers, our colleagues, our families as well as to strangers.
Corbin penned 892 with Kwame Kwei-Armah, who serves as artistic director for the Young Vic in London. Nicole Beharie (Shame), Connie Britton (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World), Olivia Washington (Lee Daniels’ The Butler), Selenis Leyva (Spider-Man: Homecoming), London Covington (Hunters) and Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) round out the cast.
Salman Al-Rashid and Sam Frohman produced the film for Salmira Productions (Good Madam, Loudmouth) with Ashley Levinson and Kevin Turen of Little Lamb Productions (Pieces of a Woman, Malcolm & Marie) and Mackenzie Fargo of Epic (Little America). Boyega exec produced alongside Will Greenfield, Joshuah Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Sims Frazier, Katia Washington, Jarrett Turner, Harrison Huffman, Femi Oguns and Moudhy Al-Rashid.
“We put our hearts and souls into the honest telling of Brian’s story,” said Corbin, “and it is a joy to partner with the team at Bleecker Street, knowing they are committed to do the same.”
“Abi’s depiction of Brian’s story is an absolutely essential film that we feel deserves the widest possible audience in theaters. It thrillingly delivers an important message and features an incredible performance from John Boyega in addition to the rest of the cast,” added Bleecker Street’s co-founder and CEO Andrew Karpen. “We look forward to sharing this with audiences across the country.”
