DON CHEADLE DIRECTS ‘THE BIG CIGAR’!

30th April 2024

Starring André Holland as Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton, the upcoming limited drama series, “The Big Cigar,” premieres globally on Friday, May 17, with the first two episodes followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14. The first two episodes are directed by multiple-award winner Don Cheadle.

Based on the magazine article of the same name from Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who also serves as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” tells the incredible true story of Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution: it’s a wild caper of Black Panther founder Huey Newton escaping from the FBI 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.

André Holland leads a renowned ensemble cast including Alessandro NivolaTiffany BoonePJ ByrneMarc MenchacaMoses IngramRebecca DaltonOlli HaaskiviJordane Christie, and Glynn Turman.

Written by Jim Hecht, from a story by Bearman and Hecht, “The Big Cigar” hails from Warner Bros. Television, where NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois and her Folding Chair Productions are under an overall deal. The drama is executive produced by Hecht and Sherman Barrois, as well as Bearman, Joshua Davis, and Arthur Spector, through their production company Epic, a division of Vox Media Studios.

“The Big Cigar” premieres globally with the first two episodes on Apple TV+ on May 17, 2024 and will air new episodes weekly every Friday through June 14, 2024.