Variety has brought word that the upcoming fact-based drama The Banker led by Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Endgame) and Samuel L. Jackson (Captain Marvel) has earned a theatrical release date from Apple set for December in time for awards season. In addition, other Apple releases including the Sundance breakout Hala and the wildlife documentary The Elephant Queen will have theatrical releases ahead of their streaming debut.
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The Banker is a drama based on the true story of two African American entrepreneurs, Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and Joe Morris (Jackson), who during the 1950’s tried to circumvent the racial limitations of the era and take on the establishment by recruiting a working class white man, Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hoult) and training him to pose as the head of their business empire while they posed as a janitor and a chauffeur. Bernard’s wife Eunice (Nia Long), plays a key role in setting up the enterprise. Garrett and Morris become two of the wealthiest and most successful real estate owners in the country with Steiner as their front man, but their success brings about unforeseen risk of exposure that threatens everything.
The film is being directed by George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau) on a script by Niceole R. Levy (Cloak & Dagger), David Lewis Smith, Stan Younger and Nolfi based on a story from Smith, Younger and Brad Kane (Black Sails).
Jackson and Mackie reunite for the film after appearing in Marvel’s Captain America: Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. The Banker is set to hit theaters on December 6 with some help from Bleecker Street and Apple TV+ in January.
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Hala, written and directed by Minhal Baig (Ramy) and starring Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers) and Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate), the film follows the titular Muslim teenager as she tries to cope with the unraveling of her family while trying to come into her own in the suburbs of Chicago. The coming-of-age drama will hit theaters on November 22 followed by an Apple TV+ premiere in December.
The Elephant Queen is helmed by wildlife documentarians Mark Deeble (The Queen of Trees) and Victoria Stone (Nature) and narrated by Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Lion King) and tells the epic story of a mother elephant as she journeys with her herd across the African savannah after being forced out of their waterhole. The documentary, which has been earning some high buzz following early festival screenings, will hit theaters on October 18, with indie powerhouse A24 assisting the studio in bringing it to the big screen, and will hit the upcoming streaming service on November 1.
(Photo Credit: Backgrid Images)
