John Boyega has taken some fascinating swings in his post-“Star Wars” career. Last year, he earned heaps of acclaim for his role as London Metropolitan Police officer Leroy Logan in the “Red, White and Blue” entry in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe.” He was set to star in the Netflix thriller from Jeremy Saulnier “Rebel Ridge,” and though he left that project earlier this summer, fans can still get a chance to see him in the upcoming “Naked Singularity,” in theaters on August 6 and on demand August 13. Check out the trailer below.
Here’s the official synopsis from Screen Media Films: “‘Naked Singularity’ tells the story of Casi (John Boyega), a promising young NYC public defender whose idealism is beginning to crack under the daily injustices of the very justice system he’s trying to make right. Doubting all he has worked for and seeing signs of the universe collapsing all around him, he is pulled into a dangerous high-stakes drug heist by an unpredictable former client (Olivia Cooke) in an effort to beat the broken system at its own game.”
The film is the directorial debut of Chase Palmer, from a script by Palmer and David Matthews from the 2008 novel of the same name by Sergio De La Pava. Ridley Scott and Dick Wolf are among the executive producers.
Life after Disney and “Star Wars” has afforded Boyega the chance to take on riskier roles, including in “Small Axe” and smaller films like “Naked Singularity.” “Being in a big franchise, it’s kind of like luxury jail sometimes for an actor when you want to do something else,” Boyega said in a Q&A with CinemaBlend. “Because remember, in a franchise you’re working on one character for many years, which can starve your other muscles. And in wanting to be in something where I knew that I’d play a different type of role, a different type of man, and then knowing Steve [McQueen] through, we’re all a part of the same industry so I’d heard about Steve’s directing style, I was really really curious and excited to have the opportunity anyway to be a part of it. And when it came through I was on the [telephone] like, ‘This is my moment.’”
IndieWire spoke to Boyega back in June about “Small Axe,” which unexpectedly didn’t earn the British actor a Primetime Emmy nomination. Still, the project and his performance were widely praised, earning him a BAFTA TV Award nomination in the process.
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