Amazon Studios released a trailer for the Regina King directed One Night in Miami, which brings together 60’s icons Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, and Malcolm X for a single night in Miami, 1964. 

The film is akin to Steve Martin’s play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which follows a fictional encounter between iconic painter Pablo Picasso and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Though, this film is set in Miami in the 1960’s and instead of two icons, it brings four icons together: famed boxer Muhammad Ali, singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, football star fullback Jim Brown, and civil rights leader Malcolm X. The four discuss race, politics, and Ali’s big win in the 1964 set film. 

One Night in Miami is directed by Oscar Winner Regina King in her feature debut. King won her Oscar for best supporting actress in 2019 for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk. Now King sets her eyes on an Academy Award nomination for best director, which would be the first ever for a black woman. The film looks wonderful from the trailer and with a smaller crop of films to choose from this year due to movie theaters closures, King’s chances grow exponentially with this streaming film. 

Similar to the play written by Steve Martin, this film is written by playwright Kemp Powers, who also penned the upcoming Pixar film Soul. It can be assumed that Powers worked meticulously on penning a story that is true to these actually icons and adds to their legacy, even though it is a fictional encounter

Canadian actor Eli Goree leads the charge as Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali, the actor has been in a plethora of television series, but this is his first leading role in a major film. He’s joined by Hamilton alum Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke, the Invisible Man star Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown, and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X, who also recently starred in The Comey Rule as Barack Obama. The stars of this film are ripe with young actors on the cusp of a big break. 

One Night in Miami will be released in select theaters on December 25, 2020 and then will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on January 15, 2021.