Three more stars are set to join Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming untitled Detroit riots movie. Variety brings word that Ben O’Toole (The Water Diviner, Hacksaw Ridge), Will Poulter (The Revenant, We’re the Millers) and Jack Reynor (Sing Street, Macbeth) are set to join the previously attached Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega in the Annapurna Pictures ensemble. The Detroit riots movie is set to reteam the two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker behind The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty with screenwriter Mark Boal.
Although full details about the Detroit riots movie are not being revealed at this time, the film is said to be a crime drama set against the backdrop of Detroit’s devastating riots that took place over five haunting summer days in 1967. Boal has been researching and working on the project, which explores systemic racism in urban Detroit, for more than a year. Although no studio is yet attached, a release date is being targeted for 2017, the 50th anniversary of the riots.
The project marks Boal’s first screenplay centering around domestic conflicts. His The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, both directed by Bigelow, were set in the Middle East.
Bigelow and Boal are also producing the Detroit riots movie alongside Annapurna’s Megan Ellison, Matthew Budman, and Colin Wilson. Greg Shapiro is set to serve as executive producer.
