Will Poulter, Jack Reynor and Ben O’Toole have joined the cast of Kathryn Bigelow’s new movie about the 1967 Detroit riots.
‘The Revenant’ actor, ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ star and newcomer O’Toole – who recently appeared in ‘The Water Diviner’ with Russell Crowe – have all been added to the ensemble cast of the crime drama, according to Variety.
They join John Boyega in the movie which is set against the backdrop of the famous July disturbance which erupted as a result of rage at apparent institutionalised racism following a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar, then known as a ‘blind pig’.
Few details have been released about the characters the trio will portray, however, it is believed Poulter, O’Toole and Reynor will have significant screen time.
Bigelow has now put the drama at the top of her production list and the cast have started filming the project in Detroit and Boston now.
It is scheduled to be released next year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the riot.
For the project, Bigelow has reunited with writer Mark Boal, who previously worked with her on ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ and ‘The Hurt Locker’.
Annapurna Pictures is backing the movie and will be tasked with finding a distribution outlet for the film once it’s complete and The Hurt Locker’s’ Greg Shapiro is acting as executive producer.
Poulter, 23, rose to fame starring in ‘We Are The Millers’ and will be seen next in Brad Pitt’s dark comedy ‘War Machine’.
Reynor, 24, has turned away from starring in blockbusters since his breakout movie, though he received critical acclaim for his recent performance in ‘Sing Street’ and will be seen next in ‘Free Fire’.
O’Toole is posed for a big year ahead as he also stars in Mel Gibson’s ‘Hacksaw Ridge’.
Meanwhile, Boyega is set for a very busy time over the next two years as he is reprising his role as hero Finn in another two ‘Star Wars’ sequels with ‘Episode VIII’ recently wrapping at Pinewood Studios in England.
He is also working on tech thriller ‘The Circle’ with Tom Hanks and Emma Watson and has also been cast to star in sci-fi follow-up ‘Pacific Rim 2’.
Will Poulter cast in Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit riots movie
