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‘The Hunger Games’ Actor Dayo Okeniyi To Star In Historical Drama ‘Emperor’

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Gregory Pace/REX/Shutterstock (8458104bj)
Dayo Okeniyi
‘Shades of Blue’ TV Series Season 2 premiere, Arrivals, New York, USA – 01 Mar 2017

EXCLUSIVE: Dayo Okeniyi, best known for his role in The Hunger Games as well as NBC’s Shades of Blue, has been tapped as the lead in Emperor, a Civil War-era historical drama from Sobini Films. Former Lionsgate exec and Sobini founder Mark Amin is directing the pic.

Written by Amin and Pat Charles, the screenplay is inspired by the story of Shields Green who, in 1859, escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.

Reginald Hudlin is producing the project via Hudlin Entertainment alongside Amin and Cami Winikoff for Sobini, while Tyler Boehm will serve executive producer. Filming is expected to commence in June in Savannah, Georgia. UTA is handling domestic sales.

Okeniyi will co-star in the third and final season of the Jennifer Lopez-Ray Liotta police drama Shades of Blue, which will begin June 17. Other film credits include The Spectacular Now and Terminator Genisys. Okeniyi is repped by UTA, Authentic Talent and Literary Management, and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

Amin has produced a number of films including the Miles Davis biopic, Miles Ahead, directed by and starring Don Cheadle and Good Kill with Ethan Hawke. His forthcoming slate includes Mary Shelley starring Elle Fanning, and the Justin Kelly-directed JT Leroy pic starring Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, and Diane Kruger. Amin is repped by UTA.

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‘Hunger Games’ actor seen in Savannah. Lots of extras needed for his new big movie

BY LISA WILSON

[email protected]

June 13, 2018 03:47 PM

Updated June 13, 2018 03:55 PM

Actor Dayo Okeniyi, who portrayed Thresh in “The Hunger Games,” is in Savannah filming a new drama, according to posts on his Instagram page.

Okeniyi has been cast as the star of “Emperor,” a Civil War-era movie that tells the story of escaped slave Shields Green.

The movie will be filmed in the Savannah from mid-June through late July, casting calls for extras and body doubles say.

Okeniyi, 29, also played Danny Dyson in “Terminator Genisys” and stars as Michael Loman in “Shades of Blue” on NBC, according to IMDB.

Okeniyi has posted several photos on social media related to Savannah and filming.

The first, an apparently airport photo tagged 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, includes the text, “Georgia on my mind…”

A photo and video posted as Instagram stories on Tuesday afternoon showed Okeniyi meeting horses that will be used in filming.

“… We’ll have you on Tank, which is the black horse, … then, really, we’ll see how you ride,” a man can be heard saying in the background.

Photos of Okeniyi on Tank show the actor sporting a full beard, unlike his television character, who is clean-shaven.

An Instagram story posted earlier Tuesday afternoon showed racks of period clothing and is captioned “Fittings! It’s where characters are born.”

Another shows an early Wednesday morning streetscape from the Savannah historic district.

“Emperor” takes place in 1859 and centers around an abolitionist raid led by John Brown on the Harpers Ferry arsenal, according to Deadline.

Green, who was known as Emperor, had escaped through the Underground Railroad from a plantation in the Charleston area and, through Frederick Douglass, met John Brown.

Instead of continuing to flee north, Green fought with Brown at Harper’s Ferry, considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War. Green later was found guilty and hanged for murder and leading slaves to rebel.

Casting calls

Kendall Cooper Casting, the agency recruiting extras for “Emperor,” has set up a Facebook page with filming information.

A post on the page says submissions for roles will be accepted throughout filming.

Previous casting calls asked applicants whether they had experience with horses or firearms.

On Wednesday morning, a post listed a casting call for Caucasian men and women, ages 20-60, to play townsfolk all day on June 27.

Fittings are Wednesday and Thursday, so submissions should be sent in ASAP, the listing says. Those who have already submitted do not need to resubmit.

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BLACK MUSIC MONTH – AFRO FUTURISM AND MUSIC

The concept of Afro Futurism is imagining a future through a black cultural lens. Like a lot of science fiction, it often ends up a metaphor for life today. Here’s a list of highlights of musical afro futurists.

Sun Ra – Space Is The Place

Sun Ra took big band jazz and dipped it in acid, making truly outer space music. He said he was from Saturn, and made a movie about his adventures on Earth. It’s pretty brilliant.

Parliament – The Landing Of The Holy Mothership

George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, the Brides of Funkenstein…all different manifestations of the ever growing, ever evolving band known as P.Funk. They made a series of concept albums throughout the 70s that functioned as party records, comedy albums, sci fi operas and black nationalist manifestos that influenced me more than any other artist in any medium.

Michael & Janet Jackson – Scream

Michael Jackson loved science fiction and fantasy, and you see that throughout his videos, like CAN YOU FEEL IT, THRILLER, REMEMBER THE TIME and this one with his sister Janet. He also wanted to buy Marvel Comics so he could play the Black Panther in a movie.

OutKast – B.O.B.

OutKast called themselves Atliens, and used spaceship imagery and more in this brilliant video.

Janelle Monae – Many Moons

Janelle took the funky robot metaphor of the Brides of Funkenstein and Parlet and took it way to the next level. Most of her videos like TIGHTROPE, ELECTRIC LADY, DANCE APOCAYIPTIC and others reflect similar themes.