Akeelah, spell “leading lady!”
Y’all, the much-anticipated new film from director-producer-writer Jordan Peele has found its new star and it’s Keke Palmer! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Kaluuya, who worked with Jordan in Get Out (and may become a true muse of the filmmaker) is in final negotiations to co-star. Plus, the project already has a slated release date of July 22, 2022.
But, to put this in phrasing that Keke has adopted (from the Black LGBTQ community, in case this wasn’t clear), “the gag is”...we know absolutely nothing about the plot! The power Peele has! That’s right, this film is already close to sealing an intriguing duo of top-billed stars and landed a release date, but we don’t even know the damn genre. This hasn’t been confirmed officially, but word on the street is that Keke will be taking on the role of the villain.
Per Deadline, Jordan and Keke have worked together before on Key and Peele and apparently the two really hit it off at a meeting about the project—Jordan knew quite quickly that she was the one!
THR has the breakdown on the potential co-stars’ Hollywood journey, as of late:
Palmer has been appearing in both TV and film steadily, starring in recent shows Star and Scream: The TV Series, while also appearing in movies such as the splashy hit Hustlers. Last year she earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for co-hosting Strahan, Sara and Keke and released a video aimed at raising voter turnout that went viral.
Kaluuya is currently earning raves for portraying Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton in Warners’ Judas and the Black Messiah. The role has earned him Golden Globe and SAG nominations.
Because there is nothing quite like the circus that goes on in Jordan’s head and there’s the potential of this leading cast, I’m really intrigued about this. This top-secret film will be a part of the exclusive five-year deal between Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Universal Pictures.