Renowned Hollywood producer Reginald Hudlin earned Oscar and PGA nominations for “Django Unchained” (2012) and an Emmy bid for producing the 2016 Academy Awards ceremony, and now he’s back in the awards conversation thanks to “Emperor.” Sobini Films’ production is inspired by the true story of Shields “Emperor” Green (played by Dayo Okeniyi), a slave in 1850s South Carolina who kills his owners and flees his plantation after his son is whipped. “I’ve taken lashes my whole life to keep my family safe, but they will never whip my son again,” Emperor proclaims in the trailer (watch above).
SEEReginald Hudlin on unmasking ‘The Black Godfather’ behind so many icons: Clarence Avant ‘has made a difference in everyone’s lives’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
Mark Amin co-wrote (with Pat Charles) and directed the movie that follows Emperor’s harrowing journey through pre-Civil War America. Eventually the man joins up with iconic historical figures John Brown...
SEEReginald Hudlin on unmasking ‘The Black Godfather’ behind so many icons: Clarence Avant ‘has made a difference in everyone’s lives’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
Mark Amin co-wrote (with Pat Charles) and directed the movie that follows Emperor’s harrowing journey through pre-Civil War America. Eventually the man joins up with iconic historical figures John Brown...
- 3/4/2021
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
“Black Lightning” will end its run on The CW after its upcoming Season 4.
Based on the DC character of the same name, “Black Lightning” centers around Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), a high school principal who is forced to don his superhero suit once again after years of retirement when a local gang arises and recruits one of his star students. The show also stars Christine Adams, China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, James Remar, Marvin Jones III, Jordan Calloway and Damon Gupton. Season 4 of the series is slated to air early next year.
“When we first started the ‘Black Lighting’ journey, I knew that Jefferson Pierce and his family of powerful Black Women would be a unique addition to the super hero genre,” series developer and executive producer Salim Akil said in a statement. “The love that Blerds and all comic book fans around the globe have shown this series over...
Based on the DC character of the same name, “Black Lightning” centers around Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), a high school principal who is forced to don his superhero suit once again after years of retirement when a local gang arises and recruits one of his star students. The show also stars Christine Adams, China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, James Remar, Marvin Jones III, Jordan Calloway and Damon Gupton. Season 4 of the series is slated to air early next year.
“When we first started the ‘Black Lighting’ journey, I knew that Jefferson Pierce and his family of powerful Black Women would be a unique addition to the super hero genre,” series developer and executive producer Salim Akil said in a statement. “The love that Blerds and all comic book fans around the globe have shown this series over...
- 11/20/2020
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Shields Green was a Black man, formerly enslaved, who participated in abolitionist John Brown’s raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal. He was caught there with Brown, put on trial, and executed, giving his life because he tried to steal weapons for those who’d fight to end slavery.
That’s not heroic enough for Mark Amin’s Emperor, a hacky adventure that imagines Shields’ picaresque journey from slavery to rebellion, then gives him a happy ending instead of the gallows. In Amin’s defense, the cliche-ridden script he penned with Pat Charles says at the beginning that it’s “...
That’s not heroic enough for Mark Amin’s Emperor, a hacky adventure that imagines Shields’ picaresque journey from slavery to rebellion, then gives him a happy ending instead of the gallows. In Amin’s defense, the cliche-ridden script he penned with Pat Charles says at the beginning that it’s “...
- 8/18/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Shields Green was a Black man, formerly enslaved, who participated in abolitionist John Brown’s raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal. He was caught there with Brown, put on trial, and executed, giving his life because he tried to steal weapons for those who’d fight to end slavery.
That’s not heroic enough for Mark Amin’s Emperor, a hacky adventure that imagines Shields’ picaresque journey from slavery to rebellion, then gives him a happy ending instead of the gallows. In Amin’s defense, the cliche-ridden script he penned with Pat Charles says at the beginning that it’s “...
That’s not heroic enough for Mark Amin’s Emperor, a hacky adventure that imagines Shields’ picaresque journey from slavery to rebellion, then gives him a happy ending instead of the gallows. In Amin’s defense, the cliche-ridden script he penned with Pat Charles says at the beginning that it’s “...
- 8/18/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has picked up the U.S. rights to Emperor, the feature based on the harrowing journey of American freedom fighter Shields Green, played by Dayo Okeniyi (Shades of Blue). Oscar nominee James Cromwell (The Green Mile) co-stars along with Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries), Naturi Naughton (Power), Mykelti Williamson (Fences), Ben Robson (The Boy) and Oscar nominee Bruce Dern (Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood).
Mark Amin directed the pic, which was originally slated for a limited theatrical release in March via Briarcliff Entertainment but was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It’ll be released on digital, DVD and on-demand on August 18.
Set in the pre-Civil War South, the film details Green’s escape from slavery and his transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes. Seeking freedom for his family, Emperor fights his way north, joining the daring raid on Harper’s Ferry, the...
Mark Amin directed the pic, which was originally slated for a limited theatrical release in March via Briarcliff Entertainment but was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It’ll be released on digital, DVD and on-demand on August 18.
Set in the pre-Civil War South, the film details Green’s escape from slavery and his transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes. Seeking freedom for his family, Emperor fights his way north, joining the daring raid on Harper’s Ferry, the...
- 7/15/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Dayo Okeniyi, James Cromwell, Bruce Dern among cast on completed film.
Vmi Worldwide has commenced talks at the Marché du Film Online on Sobini Films’ timely slave rebellion action-thriller Emperor
The completed feature is based on true events surrounding the life of Shields Green, an escaped slave who flees to the free North.
There he joins forces with John Brown in the battle at Harpers Ferry, a key moment in the abolitionist movement that helped sparked the Civil War.
Dayo Okeniyi, James Cromwell, Bruce Dern, Ben Robson, Naturi Naughton, and Kat Graham star in the completed film.
Sobini’s Mark Amin...
Vmi Worldwide has commenced talks at the Marché du Film Online on Sobini Films’ timely slave rebellion action-thriller Emperor
The completed feature is based on true events surrounding the life of Shields Green, an escaped slave who flees to the free North.
There he joins forces with John Brown in the battle at Harpers Ferry, a key moment in the abolitionist movement that helped sparked the Civil War.
Dayo Okeniyi, James Cromwell, Bruce Dern, Ben Robson, Naturi Naughton, and Kat Graham star in the completed film.
Sobini’s Mark Amin...
- 6/24/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
The trailer for the new drama, Emperor starring Dayo Okeniyi has been released and you can see it right here on CinemaNerdz!
The film is inspired by the legend of Shields “Emperor” Green, a descendant of African kings turned outlaw slave in the pre-Civil War South. Seeking freedom for his family, Emperor fights his way north, joining the daring raid on Harper’s Ferry and helping alter the course of American history.
Genre: Drama
Cast: Dayo Okeniyi, Naturi Naughton, Kat Graham, Mykelti Williamson, James Cromwell, Bruce Dern
Director: Mark Amin
Screenplay: Mark Amin and Pat Charles
Produced By: Reginald Hudlin, Mark Amin, Cami Winikoff
Emperor will be released in theaters by Briarcliff Entertainment on March 27, 2020!
For More Information:
Follow @EmperorMovie on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram #EmperorMovie...
The film is inspired by the legend of Shields “Emperor” Green, a descendant of African kings turned outlaw slave in the pre-Civil War South. Seeking freedom for his family, Emperor fights his way north, joining the daring raid on Harper’s Ferry and helping alter the course of American history.
Genre: Drama
Cast: Dayo Okeniyi, Naturi Naughton, Kat Graham, Mykelti Williamson, James Cromwell, Bruce Dern
Director: Mark Amin
Screenplay: Mark Amin and Pat Charles
Produced By: Reginald Hudlin, Mark Amin, Cami Winikoff
Emperor will be released in theaters by Briarcliff Entertainment on March 27, 2020!
For More Information:
Follow @EmperorMovie on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram #EmperorMovie...
- 2/19/2020
- by Mike Tyrkus
- CinemaNerdz
On Wednesday, Agc Studios founder Stuart Ford, director Roland Emmerich and producer and co-writer Harald Kloser unveiled to buyers at Cannes’ Carlton Hotel one of the biggest-budgeted movie projects ever to be offered on the open market: Emmerich’s “Moonfall,” a $150 million sci-fi action-thriller.
To raise “Moonfall’s” finance, alongside partners CAA, Agc Studios by Wednesday morning was “already immersed in a wide range of discussions and negotiations from sources ranging across major studios to the big independents to Chinese and international equity investors, to local Chinese distributors,” Ford said.
Agc held a standing room-only informational meeting packed with a reported 500 international attendees — hailing from Brazil, China, Japan and France, to name a few places — at a chandelier-lined ballroom in the Carlton Hotel, which overlooks the Mediterranean and the Croisette.
The team hopes to finish “Midway,” currently in the final stretch of post-production, by mid-September, then begin prepping “Moonfall” in...
To raise “Moonfall’s” finance, alongside partners CAA, Agc Studios by Wednesday morning was “already immersed in a wide range of discussions and negotiations from sources ranging across major studios to the big independents to Chinese and international equity investors, to local Chinese distributors,” Ford said.
Agc held a standing room-only informational meeting packed with a reported 500 international attendees — hailing from Brazil, China, Japan and France, to name a few places — at a chandelier-lined ballroom in the Carlton Hotel, which overlooks the Mediterranean and the Croisette.
The team hopes to finish “Midway,” currently in the final stretch of post-production, by mid-September, then begin prepping “Moonfall” in...
- 5/15/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Ben Robson, best known for playing Craig Cody in TNT’s “Animal Kingdom,” has joined “Emperor,” the Civil War-abolitionist film directed former Lionsgate exec Mark Amin under his Sobini Films banner, sources have confirmed to Variety.
Dayo Okeniyi, James Cromwell, Naturi Naughton, Paul Scheer, Keean Johnson, Mykelti Williamson, Harry Lennix, Kat Graham, and Bruce Dern round out the cast.
Inspired by a true story, the pic follows Shields Green (Okeniyi), who in 1859 escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass (Lennix) and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.
Robson will play the bounty hunter in pursuit of Green.
The film, co-written by Amin and Pat Charles, is currently shooting in Savannah, Ga. Reginald Hudlin...
Dayo Okeniyi, James Cromwell, Naturi Naughton, Paul Scheer, Keean Johnson, Mykelti Williamson, Harry Lennix, Kat Graham, and Bruce Dern round out the cast.
Inspired by a true story, the pic follows Shields Green (Okeniyi), who in 1859 escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass (Lennix) and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.
Robson will play the bounty hunter in pursuit of Green.
The film, co-written by Amin and Pat Charles, is currently shooting in Savannah, Ga. Reginald Hudlin...
- 6/20/2018
- by Justin Kroll
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Oscar nominees James Cromwell and Bruce Dern have signed on for Emperor, joining previously announced star Dayo Okeniyi in the Civil War-abolitionist film directed by former Lionsgate exec Mark Amin. Paul Scheer, Harry Lennix, Naturi Naughton, Mykelti Williamson, Ben Robson, Keean Johnson, and Kat Graham are also attached to co-star in the film, which hails from Amin’s Sobini Films banner.
Inspired by the true story, the pic follows Shields Green (Okeniyi), who in 1859 escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass (Lennix) and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.
Cromwell and Dern will play John Brown and Levi Coffin, respectively, two of the great heroes of the American abolitionist movement. Cromwell...
Inspired by the true story, the pic follows Shields Green (Okeniyi), who in 1859 escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass (Lennix) and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.
Cromwell and Dern will play John Brown and Levi Coffin, respectively, two of the great heroes of the American abolitionist movement. Cromwell...
- 6/20/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Dayo Okeniyi, best known for his role in The Hunger Games as well as NBC’s Shades of Blue, has been tapped as the lead in Emperor, a Civil War-era historical drama from Sobini Films. Former Lionsgate exec and Sobini founder Mark Amin is directing the pic.
Written by Amin and Pat Charles, the screenplay is inspired by the story of Shields Green who, in 1859, escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.
Reginald Hudlin is producing the project via Hudlin Entertainment alongside Amin and Cami Winikoff for Sobini, while Tyler Boehm will serve executive producer. Filming is expected to commence in June in Savannah,...
Written by Amin and Pat Charles, the screenplay is inspired by the story of Shields Green who, in 1859, escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.
Reginald Hudlin is producing the project via Hudlin Entertainment alongside Amin and Cami Winikoff for Sobini, while Tyler Boehm will serve executive producer. Filming is expected to commence in June in Savannah,...
- 4/30/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Recently, ABC released this new, 2nd sneak peek/spoiler clip (below) for their upcoming "Resurrection" episode 11 of season 2, and it gives us new looks at a very deep and serious conversation that goes down between Preacher James and Bellamy, and more. The episode is labeled, "True Believer." The official plotline for episode 11, reads like this: "The return of Preacher James is going to end up. bringing an ominous new energy to the town, especially for Bellamy who seems to have a strange and unnerving connection to him. Now a detainee at the government facility, Margaret will keep to herself but her reputation will precede her and the other returned will definitely take notice. Then the unthinkable will happen to Henry which shakes everybody's faith to their core." The episode was written by Pat Charles and it was directed by Vincent Misiano. Episode 11 airs tomorrow night, January 11th at 8pm central time on ABC.
- 1/10/2015
- by Andre Braddox
- OnTheFlix
Last night, ABC delivered the new promo/spoiler clip (below) for their upcoming "Resurrection" episode 11 of season 2, and it gives us new looks at some very dramatic and interesting stuff as everyone is upset over Henry's death. However, James says he can bring Henry back, and more! The episode is titled, "True Believer." In the new,11th episode official plotline: "The return of Preacher James is going to end up. bringing an ominous new energy to the town, especially for Bellamy who seems to have a strange and unnerving connection to him. Now a detainee at the government facility, Margaret will keep to herself but her reputation will precede her and the other returned will definitely take notice. Then the unthinkable will happen to Henry which shakes everybody's faith to their core." The episode was written by Pat Charles and it was directed by Vincent Misiano. Episode 11 is scheduled to air on Sunday night,...
- 1/5/2015
- by Eric
- OnTheFlix
Recently, ABC released these new spoiler photos for their upcoming "Resurrection" episode 11 of season 2, and it features new looks at some interesting scenes with Lucille, Bellamy, little Jacob and more in action. The episode is titled, "True Believer." The official description for episode 11, reads like this: "The return of Preacher James is going to bring an ominous new energy to the town, especially for Bellamy who seems to have a strange and unnerving connection to him. Now a detainee at the government facility, Margaret will keep to herself but her reputation will precede her and the other returned will definitely take notice. Then the unthinkable will happen to Henry which shakes everybody's faith to their core." The episode was written by Pat Charles and it was directed by Vincent Misiano. Episode 11 is scheduled to air on Sunday night, January 11th at 8pm central time on ABC.
- 1/4/2015
- by Chris
- OnTheFlix
Recently, ABC released the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Resurrection" episode 11 of season 2. The episode is entitled, "True Believer," and it turns out that we're going to see some interesting stuff when Preacher James delivers a new ominous energy into town , and more. In the new, 11th episode press release: The return of Preacher James will bring an ominous new energy to the town, especially for Bellamy who seems to have a strange and unnerving connection to him. Now a detainee at the government facility, Margaret is going to keep to herself but her reputation will precede her and the other returned are going to definitely take notice. Then the unthinkable is going to happen to Henry which shakes everybody's faith to their core. Guest stars feature: Michelle Fairley as Margaret Langston, Kathleen Munroe as Rachael Braidwood, Nadej Bailey as Jenny, Michael Tourek as Cauliflower Ear, Jim Parrack as Preacher James,...
- 1/4/2015
- by Megan
- OnTheFlix
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