The studio will debut the film this year towards the awards season
Ahead of its TIFF debut, Amazon Studios has picked up Regina King’s feature directorial debut One Night in Miami, with plans to release it as an awards contender.
Based on the 2013 stage play by Kemp Powers, the movie is set on the night of February 25, 1964, and follows a young Cassius Clay (Eli Goree)— before he became Muhammad Ali— as he emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Center the new World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Against all odds, he defeated Sonny Liston and shocked the sports world.
While crowds of people swarm Miami Beach to celebrate the match, Clay – unable to stay on the island because of Jim Crow-era segregation laws – instead spends the night at the Hampton House Motel in one of Miami’s historically black neighborhoods celebrating with three of his closest friends: activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and football star Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). The next morning, the four men emerge determined to define a new world for themselves and their people.
Jess Wu Calder and Keith Calder produced via Snoot Entertainment, along with Jody Klein of ABKCO. King and Powers executive produced.
“One Night in Miami beautifully captures a significant moment in history when these great minds gathered and ultimately helped shape the conversation of what we know today as the civil rights movement,” said head of Amazon Studios’ Jennifer Salke. “Regina King is a force of nature – mastering her craft in front of the camera as we’ve seen in her extensive body of work, and now taking her talent behind the camera.”
King said, “Amazon’s enthusiasm for One Night in Miami is both humbling and exciting. I am honored to have them as partners on my feature film directorial debut.”