André Holland leads The Big Cigar for Apple TV+
FIRST LOOK: Here’s André Holland (The Eddy) as Huey P Newton in The Big Cigar, a biopic of the Black Panther leader launching on Apple TV+ in May.
The limited series chronicles the story of how Newton avoided the FBI by escaping to Cuba, with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan – involving a fake movie production – that goes wrong every way it possibly can. “And somehow, it’s all true. Mostly,” the series description says.
The cast also includes Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, PJ Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie and Glynn Turman.
Debuting on May 17, the series is based on the magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (Argo), who is an executive producer on the show. The showrunner is Janine Sherman Barrois (Claws, The Kings of Napa) and Winning Time‘s Jim Hecht penned the show’s first episode.
The series is produced by Warner Bros Television, where Barrois and her Folding Chair Productions are under an overall deal. Barrois and Hecht are executive producing alongside Bearman, Joshua Davis and Arthur Spector (Little America) through their production company Epic.
Award-winning actor, producer and director Don Cheadle is the director and executive producer on the first two episodes.
tagged in: André Holland, Apple TV+, Don Cheadle, The Big Cigar