John Boyega has announced he’s to star in a film about the 1967 Detroit riots.
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Breakout start John Boyega has continued to skyrocket to higher and higher levels of fame since his Star Wars debut. Penned by Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker), the now untitled film will be set in Detroit during the 5-day riots that took place there in 1967, and will explore the systemic racism of the city. The film is about systemic racism in urban Detroit and it is being targeted for a 2017 release date for the 50th anniversary of the riots.
Boyega is in the midst of shooting Star Wars: Episode VIII, and will next be seen onscreen opposite Tom Hanks and Emma Watson in The Circle. He even took to twitter to express his excitement, starting the hashtag #12thstreet, a name which comes from the street where the riots primarily occurred. His The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, both directed by Bigelow, were set in the Middle East.
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Dubbed the 12th Street Riot, the historic incident began because of a police raid on an unlicensed after-hours bar and soon escalated into one of the most destructive riots in USA history because of violent confrontations with patrons. The film, which will be set in Detroit, is based on an original screenplay from Bigelow’s Oscar-winning Hurt Locker collaborator, Mark Boal. Then governor George W. Romney eventually ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into the city, and by the end 43 people died with more than 1,000 others injured.
