John Boyega. Robert De Niro. “The First Purge.” Separately, they’re all enjoyable in their own right. Together? We’re intrigued, if not a bit optimistic. But you can’t deny that a project combining Boyega and De Niro with the filmmaker behind “The First Purge” is a bit surprising on paper.
According to Deadline, those three folks are coming together for a film titled, “The Formula.” John Boyega and Robert De Niro will star in a new thriller from director Gerard McMurray that tells the story of a Formula One driver that must become a getaway driver to save his family. While it’s not clear the roles, exactly, we’re going to go out on a limb and guess Boyega will be the driver and De Niro will be some sort of crime boss that forces the driver into a sticky situation.
As mentioned, “The Formula” comes from Gerard McMurray, who is probably best known for directing “The First Purge.” In addition to that film, he also helmed “Burning Sands” and an episode of Jordan Peele’s relaunched “Twilight Zone.” McMurray will write, direct, and produce “The Formula.” And to be honest, it’s exciting to see what the filmmaker has up his sleeve because “The First Purge” is a solid thriller with a lot on its mind, especially considering it is a middle chapter in a Blumhouse franchise about lawlessness and people in masks hunting citizens.
Boyega recently appeared in the “Small Axe” film, “Red, White, and Blue,” which earned his rave reviews. He’s probably best known, however, for his role in the recent “Star Wars” sequel trilogy.
And De Niro? Do we even need to list his accolades? He’s clearly best known for his comedic chops, as the grumpy dad in the “Meet the Parents” franchise and the grumpy grandpa in the recent comedy “War with Grandpa.” Oh yeah, and sometimes he does grumpy, naughty grandpa as in “Dirty Grandpa.” This is an actor that has earned his legend status over the decades, no doubt.
No release date for “The Formula” has been revealed, but we know that Netflix has the rights to the film, so we can expect a streaming debut when the time comes.