“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” star John Boyega has been cast in Kathryn Bigelow‘s upcoming film about the 1967 Detroit riots.
Oscar winner Bigelow will once again work with her producing partner and screenwriter Mark Boal on the project, which marks the pair’s highly anticipated followup to their acclaimed 2012 drama “Zero Dark Thirty.” They also worked together on 2009’s Best Picture winner, “The Hurt Locker.”
As of now, no studio is attached to distribute the film, which is currently dubbed “Untitled Detroit Project,” but producers are aiming for a 2017 release date.
Bigelow and Boal will produce along with Megan Ellison from Annapurna Pictures and Matthew Budman. Colin Wilson and Greg Shapiro are executive producing. Annapurna is financing.
A crime drama set in Detroit in the summer of 1967, when ruinous riots came close to destroying the city, the movie is set to explore racism in the city’s urban neighborhoods.
Details around Boyega’s role have not yet been revealed.
Boyega, who recently finished production on the next “Star Wars” installment, is in huge demand right now. He has been cast in the upcoming sequel “Pacific Rim: Maelstrom” and is also set to appear opposite Emma Watson and Tom Hanks in “The Circle.”
He is represented by WME and Identity Agency Group in England.