John Boyega is heading to Netflix with The Formula, the streamer’s latest original movie. Deadline reports that the Star Wars actor – who’s famously distanced himself from Disney of late – has signed up to play the lead in the project alongside none other than Robert De Niro, who will also produce. The Formula is the baby of The First Purge filmmaker Gerard McMurray, who will write, produce and direct, and it’ll mark his second collaboration with Netflix following 2017’s Burning Sands.
As per Deadline, “the story will follow a Formula One racing prodigy who’s forced to become a getaway driver to save the only family he has left.” Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh are also on board to produce, as part of their overall deal with Netflix, along with De Niro. Jason Michael Berman is exec producing, with Sam Shaw and Ephraim Walker – of McMurray’s Buppie Productions – serving as co-producers.
Since bowing out as Stormtrooper-cum-Rebel Scum Finn in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Boyega’s only graced our screens again once so far, in an episode of Steve McQueen’s anthology series Small Axe. He’s got a bunch of projects in the pipeline, however, including thriller Naked Singularity, action movie Borderland and sci-fi flick The Test. He’s currently shooting They Cloned Tyrone as well, a high-concept comedy with Jamie Foxx. So, expect to see a lot of him over the next couple of years.
De Niro, meanwhile, previously worked with Netflix for old pal Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed epic The Irishman. The legendary actor’s been as busy as ever lately, too, having just wrapped on David O. Russell’s latest project, which is currently untitled and co-stars Margot Robbie and Christian Bale. He’s due to reunite with Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon as well, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, though that’s in partnership with Apple+ and not Netflix.
The Formula will presumably shoot soon, but no release date has yet been given. As always, though, watch this space for more.
