BAFTA-winning director Adam Deacon has returned to filmmaking with Sumotherhood, a British urban comedy, now set to start production in London.
The cast includes a hefty list of names, more recently adding the likes of Ed Sheeran, whose acting credits include features on Game of Thrones and Yesterday, alongside Danny Sapani (Black Panther), Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous), Peter Serafinowicz (The Tick), Leomie Anderson, London Hughes (London Hughes: To Catch A D*Ck), Kevin Bishop (The Kevin Bishop Show), Jaime Winstone (Kidulthood), Vas Blackwood (Lock Stock) and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who won a Laurence Olivier award for best actor winner in Tina-The Tina Turner Musical.
Sumotherhood has Simon Stolland (Blue Story) as cinematographer alongside the onscreen talent, and Deacon himself says he could not be more excited about the cast. He is looking forward to bringing the characters to life. He calls the film “darkly authentic” when referring to the film’s celebration of the variety of life within East London in 2022—looking to embrace the “vibrant and diverse” lifestyle of living in East London council estate.
The film was written by Deacon, Jazzie Zonolo, and Michael Vu and marked the return of actor-writer-director Deacon to filmmaking after several years away from the industry. Over a decade since his directorial debut in 2011 with Anuvahood (also written with Vu.) Having his breakout moment in the 2006 film Kidulthood, he won the 2012 BAFTA for Rising Star, beating out Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Chris O’Dowd, and Eddie Redmayne. He stepped back from filmmaking in 2015 after a public battle with mental health and bipolar disorder.
The film will shoot in Hackney and East London throughout February and March.