Projects centered around the left-wing revolutionary group, the Black Panther Party, continue to fascinate popular culture. In 2022, Daniel Kaluuya won an Oscar for portraying the betrayed deputy chairman, Fred Hampton, in the bio-crime drama, “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Now, a new limited series, “The Big Cigar,” based on a Playboy Article by Joshuah Bearman (known for the Wired Article that inspired “Argo”), tells the too-good-to-be-true story of Black Panther co-founder Huey Percy Newton’s escape to Cuba with the assistance of a famous film producer.
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The series will star André Holland as Newton and Alessandro Nivola as Hollywood producer Bert Schneider, known for helping counter-culture films like “Easy Rider” and “Five Easy Pieces” get made with this BBS Productions shingle. When it looks as though time behind bars will be inevitable for Newton, he approaches his friend Schneider, a well-known supporter of radical political groups, for help to escape to Cuba. Schneider cooks up an elaborate cover story, a movie built around the revolutionary, entitled “The Cigar.” The showrunner is Janine Sherman Barrois (“Claws” “Self-Made”). Don Cheadle will serve as an executive producer and director. In addition to Holland and Nivola, the series will feature Tiffany Boone, Mark Menchaca, Moses Ingram, and P.J. Byrne.
The Black Panthers rose to international prominence during the social upheaval of the 1960s, with Newton becoming, as The Washington Post described, “a symbol of the angry, gun-carrying black militant.” In 1974, facing several assault and murder charges, Newton fled to Cuba for three years. He returned to the United States and died in 1989.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Based on the magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who will also serve as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” is the incredible true story of the 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.
The first two episodes of “The Big Cigar” will premiere on AppleTV+ on May 17. A new episode will air every week through June 14. Watch the first trailer below.