Star Wars' John Boyega has signed onto a new project for Netflix that would see him acting opposite the legendary Robert De Niro.In Gerard McMurray’s heist filmThe Formula,Boyega plays a Formula One racer turned getaway driver, who turns to crime in order to protect his family. De Niro’s role has yet to be revealed.
McMurray,also known forThe First Purgeand an episode of the 2019Twilight Zonerevival, will write and directThe Formula. Its producers include McMurray, working at his newly-formed studio Buppie Productions, as well as De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Berry Welsh.
RELATED:Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ Prequel Casts Its Lead Role
Boyega has been vocal recentlyabout his disappointment with his time as Finn in theStar Warsfranchise, and doesn’t plan to return to the live-action role anytime soon. (He didn’t rule out animated adaptations, though.) Fortunately, he’s stayed busy, with four movies currently in various stages of production. At the time of writing, he’s currently working on the conspiracy/mystery caper movieThey Cloned Tyronewith Teyonah Parris(WandaVision)and Jamie Foxx.
While the COVID-19 pandemic still has much of the film industry in a state of flux, Boyega’s next film to release appears to be Chase Palmer’sNaked Singularity,based on a novel by Sergio De La Pava (and not, as some might think, theMagic: The Gatheringcard or a racy spin onthe old Raven Software game). Boyega plays a successful New York lawyer who, after losing his first case, goes into a personal tailspin. While no firm release date has been set,Naked Singularityis expected to release at some point this year, in some unspecified venue.
This marks another weirdly star-studded production for Netflix, which has hit the ground running in 2021 with plans to release at least one new original movie every week this year. This week’s new film isPenguin Bloom, starringAndrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead)as a man under stress from caring for his recently disabled wife (Naomi Watts), who finds unexpected solace in rehabilitating an injured magpie.
On the other side of the spectrum, this weekend’s new film on Netflix isBelow Zero,a.k.a.Bajocero,a Spanishaction movie about a copwho barely survives an attack on the prison transport truck he was driving, and must hole up in the middle of nowhere to defend against newly-released convicts.
