Bleecker Street acquires U.S. rights to Sundance winner ‘892’ starring John Boyega and Michael Kenneth Williams

Erik Anderson February 1, 2022

Bleecker Street has acquired the U.S. rights to Abi Damaris Corbin’s (The Suitcase) debut feature 892 starring John Boyega (Star Wars, Attack the Block), the late Michael Kenneth Williams in his final film role (“The Wire”, 12 Years a Slave), Nicole Beharie (Shame, 42), Connie Britton (Promising Young Woman, “Friday Night Lights”), Olivia Washington (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, The Little Things), Selenis Leyva (Spider-Man: Homecoming, “Orange Is the New Black”), London Covington (Hunters) and Jeffrey Donovan (“Burn Notice”, Changeling) following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Bleecker Street is planning a late summer nationwide theatrical release.

Based on a true story, when former U.S. Marine Brian Brown-Easley’s disability check fails to materialize from Veterans Affairs, he finds himself on the brink of poverty. Desperate and with no other options, he walks into a Wells Fargo Bank and says “I’ve got a bomb.” What ensues is an edge of your seat thriller that reminds us of the social responsibility we have to our soldiers, our colleagues, our families and to strangers as well.

Sundance Review: A career-best performance from John Boyega and a farewell to Michael Kenneth Williams highlight true-life hostage thriller ‘892’ [Grade: B]

Director and screenwriter, Abi Damaris Corbin said: “We put our hearts and souls into the honest telling of Brian’s story and it is a joy to partner with the team at Bleecker Street, knowing they are committed to do the same.”

Co-written by Corbin and Artistic Director for the Young Vic in London, Kwame Kwei-Armah, 892 marks Michael Kenneth Williams’ last role and is produced by Salman Al-Rashid and Sam Frohman of Salmira Productions (Good Madam, Loudmouth) with Ashley Levinson and Kevin Turen of Little Lamb Productions (Pieces of a Woman, Malcolm & Marie) and Mackenzie Fargo of Epic (“Little America”). Executive Producers include Will Greenfield, Josh Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Sims Frazier, Katia Washington, Jarrett Turner, Harrison Huffman, Femi Oguns, Moudhy Al-Rashid and John Boyega.

The deal was brokered between Bleecker Street’s Head of Acquisitions Kent Sanderson alongside Avy Eschenasy, with WME Independent on behalf of the filmmakers.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.