Golden Globe nominee Stephan James (Homecoming, If Beale Street Could Talk, Race) and Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Black-ish, The Mule) are set to lead Sony TV’s #Freerayshawn, an upcoming drama series from Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven), Deadline has confirmed.
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#Freerayshawn tells the story of a young, black Iraq War veteran named Rayshawn (James) who is set up by New Orleans police on a drug deal, runs for his life, and takes refuge inside his apartment building with his girlfriend and child. With New Orleans PD and the SWAT team outside ready to storm his home, a social media frenzy begins as community members and news outlets arrive at the scene. During this growing mayhem, a sympathetic cop named Steven Poincy (Fishburne) plays the role of negotiator, and, over the course of one brutally stressful day, Steven tries to get Rayshawn to calmly surrender in order to avoid an escalation of unnecessary violence.
Jasmine Cephas Jones (Blindspotting), Skeet Ulrich (Riverdale), and Annabeth Gish (The Haunting of Hill House) will co-star in the series. Jones plays Tyisha, Ulrich will play Sgt. Mike Trout, and Gish plays Detective Lincoln.
#Freerayshawn will be featured on Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s Quibi. Quibi is a short-form mobile streaming service that takes long-form content and breaks it down in “chapters.” The series began production in New Orleans and is likely the first Quibi series from a major studio.
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Fuqua executive produces the show alongside Fuqua Films’ David Boorstein and Kat Samick, Mann, and Justin Bursch. Fuqua Films will co-produce with Sony Pictures TV.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
