Boots Riley’s directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You, is stacking up a seriously impressive cast. After already landing Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok, Creed), Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead), Terry Crews (Brooklyn 9-9), and Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out, Atlanta), the film recently signed three more actors: Patton Oswalt (Mystery Science Theater 3000), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, The Color Purple), and David Cross (Arrested Development).
According to Deadline, the Oakland-set film follows “a black telemarketer with self-esteem issues who discovers a magical key to business success, propelling him to the upper echelons of the hierarchy just as his activist comrades are rising up against unjust labor practices. When he uncovers the macabre secret of his corporate overlords, he must decide whether to stand up or sell out.”
And according to the IMDB summary, this “magical key” is actually “a way to make his voice sound like it is overdubbed by a white actor.”
The genre film – described as “magical-realist” on IMDB and a “sci-fi drama” on SyfyWire, so maybe it’s both? – will be Riley’s directorial debut. He is perhaps best known as the frontman for The Coup, a revolutionary-in-the-real-political-sense hip hop group whose sixth album was also titled Sorry to Bother You. The Coup’s lyrics are biting, funny, and deeply critical of American imperialism, capitalism, and racism – so if the script is anywhere near as clever and hard-hitting as these songs, it’s going to be amazing. I already had high hopes based on the premise, and with the cast this movie is stacking up, my expectations are climbing even higher.
(via SyfyWire; image via Marvel Studios)
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