Why ‘Jesus Was My Homeboy’ is already a must-peep movie

We stan the Stanfield.

Lakeith Stanfield is set to star in Jesus Was My Homeboy, a biographical drama film chronicling the life of the assassinated Black Panther activist Fred Hampton.

Daniel Kaluuya will star alongside Stanfield, the two of them previously working together on Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed) will produce the Warner Bros. project, along with Charles King’s Macro.

Atlanta breakout star Lakeith Stanfield most recently was seen in Sorry To Bother You and Someone Great. The versatile and dynamic Stanfield also stars in Rian Johnson’s murder-mystery Knives Out, and Uncut Gems, the Safdie Brothers’ newest project coming out this winter.

 

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Oh shoot… 😔 Posted @withrepost • @blackfilm_com Algee Smith (@itsalgee) has joined @danielkaluuya and @lakeithstanfield3 in Warner Bros.’ untitled drama centering on activist and Black Panther revolutionary Fred Hampton. @jesseplemons @domfishback and @ashtondsanders are already cast. Shaka King is directing the film with Ryan Coogler producing along with @iamcharlesdking MACRO banner. The story follows the rise and demise of Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) as seen through the eyes of William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), a criminal who cut a deal with the FBI to infiltrate the Panthers. O’Neal helped create rifts within the organization, kept tabs on Hampton and, when the time came, drugged the 21-year old activist on the night of the raid, which ultimately saw officers gun him down.

A post shared by LaKeith Stanfield (@lakeithstanfield3) on Oct 29, 2019 at 8:45pm PDT

If Jesus Was My Homeboy comes to fruition, which it looks like it will, Stanfield will star as William O’Neal, the FBI informant that helped the FBI infiltrate the Black Panthers  which eventually led to Fred Hampton’s assassination.

Kaluuya, the starman that he is, will lead as Fred Hampton, in yet another one of his roles where he plays an iconic black figure. The film will look at Hampton’s rise and fall through O’Neal’s perspective.

Stanfield’s versatility is sure to be front and center in this film, as he has shown the ability to play the complicated antihero, the empathetic side character, and the full-on villain. We can’t wait to see what he and Kaluuya put together under director Shaka King’s vision.

Also set to be in the film are Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad, The Irishman), Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), and Dominique Fishback (Show Me A Hero).

Fred Hampton was only 21 in 1969 when he was murdered. An African-American activist and revolutionary socialist, Hampton made a name for himself as the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and deputy chairman of the national BPP.

Hampton founded the first multicultural political organization titled the “Rainbow Coalition,” which forged peace between major street gangs and focused attention on creating social change. A born-to-be leader, Hampton was identified by the FBI as a radical threat in 1967 before he even turned 20. May he continue to rest in peace.

Stanfield and Kaluuya are dynamite together, their supporting cast is fire, and any movie that Ryan Coogler is involved with should always be at the top of your list.

1969 was 50 years ago, and most of the youth don’t know who Fred Hampton was. It’s time to learn, and there are no better two actors right now to teach us than Stanfield and Kaluuya.