This has serious potential.
With The Irishman set to be released on 27 November, it appears that Netflix are happy to keep on being wise guys because the online streaming giant will be staying in the gangster genre with their latest big budget production, The Council.
In the film, Will Smith will play New York City crime boss Nicky Barnes.
In 1972, Barnes formed The Council, a seven-man organised crime syndicate that was comprised of African-American men.
This syndicate controlled a significant part of the heroin trade in the Harlem area of New York City.
Under his leadership, Barnes led The Council into an international drug trafficking ring, in partnership with the Italian-American Mafia, until his arrest in 1977. Barnes was sentenced to life imprisonment, eventually becoming a federal informant that led to the collapse of The Council in 1983.
Barnes died from cancer in 2012, however, his death was recently made known due to him being under witness protection.
Yep, we’re getting strong American Gangster vibes from this one – just like Ridley Scott’s film about the life of Frank Lucas, we’ve international drug deals and a Harlem setting which provides the backdrop to the rise of criminal empire.
Elsewhere, the story of a character that’s arrested and becoming an informant that seeks witness protection brings back memories of Henry Hill and Goodfellas.
What differentiates The Council though is the socio-political manifesto of this group of men.
The group weren’t an ordinary crime syndicate because these men dreamed of a self-sufficient and self-policing African American city-state, funded by revolutionising the drug game.
In terms of the narrative focus, Deadline have reported that that “the movie centres on the Shakespearean court intrigue between The Council’s king, Nicky Barnes, dubbed “Mr. Untouchable” by the New York Times, and all the different members as one unlikely rising protégé emerges.”
The film will see Smith reunite with Peter Landesman, he previously directed the Oscar-nominated actor in Concussion.
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