Amazon has released a sneak peek of Regina King's upcoming drama One Night in Miami. This is the Oscar winner's directorial debut and the project is based on the 2013 Kemp Powers theatrical production of the same name. The film chronicles the night R&B soul singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) got together with NFL icon and film legend Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), Human Rights icon Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and rising boxer extraordinaire Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree).
According to S&A, Amazon acquired rights to the film before its Venice Film Festival premiere. “One Night in Miami beautifully captures a significant moment in history when these great minds gathered and ultimately helped shape the conversation of what we know today as the civil rights movement,” said Head of Amazon Studios’ Jennifer Salke said at the time. “Regina King is a force of nature – mastering her craft in front of the camera as we’ve seen in her extensive body of work, and now taking her talent behind the camera. We’re so proud to welcome Regina and Kemp to the Amazon family.”
The official synopsis reads as follows:
Set on the night of February 25, 1964, the story follows a young Cassius Clay as he emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Center as the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Against all odds, he’s defeated Sonny Liston and shocked the world of boxing. While crowds of people swarm Miami Beach’s hotspots to celebrate the match, Clay — unable to stay on the island because of Jim Crow-era segregation laws — spends the night at the Hampton House Motel in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood celebrating with three of his friends: activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown. The next morning, the men emerge determined to define a new world. In One Night in Miami, Powers aims to pinpoint exactly what happened during those pivotal hours. Featuring the music of Cooke, including his hit song, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” the film offers a piercing narrative for the evening, which challenges the four men, strips them bare and reveals them for who they were.
