Eddie Huang's directorial debut Boogie is set to arrive early next year, and it will also feature a posthumous acting performance from Pop Smoke.
Deadline reports that Focus Features will release Boogie on March 5, 2021. The coming-of-age film follows a young basketball player with ambitions of playing in the NBA, pushing back against desires from his parents for him to go to one of the top colleges in the country. Set in Queens, New York, the film is directed and written by Huang, who's memoir Fresh Off the Boat served as the premise for the ABC sitcom of the same name.
Pop Smoke isn't the only rapper set to appear in the film, however, as he will be joined by fellow New Yorker Dave East. The movie is fronted by newcomer Taylor Takahashi, with Pamelyn Chee, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Mike Moh, Perry Yung, Taylour Paige, and Domenick Lombardozzi rounding out the rest of the cast.
Eddie Huang told the New York Times earlier this year that Pop was a natural in front of the camera. "He gave me a thousand percent. They were tough 16-hour days, overnights, and he shot five overnights in a row. Kids were coming on the bridge to watch us shoot the scenes. We would play Pop’s record," he said. "All our actors, the extras, the kids on the bridge watching us shoot scenes, everyone was doing the Woo dance. It was pretty special."
