Star Wars Star John Boyega to Produce African Films for Netflix

John Boyega is best known for playing Finn in the latest Star Wars trilogy, and he’s now establishing quite a big relationship with Netflix. It was previously announced that the actor would soon be starring in Rebel Ridge, an upcoming thriller from the director of Green Room. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it appears the actor’s production company, UpperRoom Productions, is teaming up with Netflix to produce a slew of African films. Apparently, UpperRoom now has a focus on West and East Africa. West Africa reflects Boyega’s Nigerian heritage and East Africa reflects the Sudanese heritage of Yara Shaikh, who is UpperRoom’s VP of Productions. This will also be the company’s first set of projects since Boyega founded it back in 2016 for Pacific Rim: Uprising.

“The streamer, which debuted its first African Original Queen Sono last month, has signed a development deal with Boyega’s U.K.-based UpperRoom Productions, with a specific focus on non-English language films from West and East Africa,” THR writes. “Three features are included in the multiyear deal, The Hollywood Reporter understands, two from Nigeria and one from Egypt, with UpperRoom developing projects based on African IP such as literary properties, Nollywood classics, screenplays, and mythology.” You can check out the full article in the tweet below:

“I am thrilled to announce that my production company, UpperRoom Productions, will be partnering with Netflix International, to develop a slate of non English feature films,” Boyega tweeted.

“Africa has a rich history in storytelling and for Netflix, this partnership with John and UpperRoom presents an opportunity to further our investment in the continent while bringing unique African stories to our members both in Africa and around the world,” Netflix’s VP of International Film, David Kosse, shared.

As for Rebel Ridge, Deadline recently dropped the news that more people have been added to the cast, including Watchmen and Knives Out star, Don Johnson. Other new additions include Erin Doherty (The Crown), James Badge Dale (Hold The Dark), Zsane Jhe (Underground Railroad), and legendary actor, James Cromwell (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom).

You can soon watch Boyega’s last film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in the comfort of your own home. The movie will be released on Digital on March 17th, and on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 31st.