Peacock announced a robust original film slate, scheduled to launch in September. “Anthony” will premiere on Friday, 4th Sept., “The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show” and “Black Boys” will premiere on Thursday, 10th September. Additionally, the critically acclaimed documentary “A Most Beautiful Thing” and Emilio Estevez’s “The Public” will begin streaming exclusively on Peacock beginning in September.
”Anthony,” tells the story of 18-year-old Black student Anthony Walker, who was murdered in a racially-motivated attack in Liverpool in 2005. "Both Donna and I were privileged to have produced ANTHONY. It follows a rich vein of factual drama we have been delivering for almost a decade now,” Executive Producer Colin McKeown said. “It means a lot to me personally as I am from the same village as the Walker family, and it is typical of Gee Walker, Anthony's mother, to draw positive conclusions from tragic events."
The film is produced by Colin McKeown and Donna Molloy for LA Productions and directed by Terry McDonough and written by Jimmy McGovern. Colin McKeown, Jimmy McGovern, and Terry McDonough serve as executive producers, along with Lucy Richer for the BBC. ITV Studios will be responsible for the global distribution.
Executively produced by MSNBC host Joy Reid and director Yoruba Richen, documentary film, “The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show” chronicles legendary entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, who hosted the iconic “Tonight Show” in place of Johnny Carson for an entire week.
“The Sit-In” follows the history-making week in February 1968 when an African American got the opportunity to host the whole week of the popular show for the first time. Amidst a backdrop of riots across the country and the Vietnam War, Belafonte introduced a fractured, changing country to itself for five nights with guests that included entertainment icons Aretha Franklin and Sidney Poitier as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
Executive produced by activist and two-time Super Bowl champion Malcolm Jenkins and written and directed by Sonia Lowman, “Black Boys” is a documentary film that utlizes conversations and stories around education, criminal justice, and sports to reveal the emotional landscape of those experiencing racism. The movie premieres Thursday, 10th September.
In “The Public”, an act of civil disobedience turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from the bitter cold. It is produced by Hammerstone Studios, Living the Dream Films and E2 Films and will stream exclusively on Peacock on Tuesday, 15th September. In “A Most Beautiful Thing,” After twenty years out of the boat, the death of a former coach brings the team back together to race once more for their sons and their community. Team captain Arshay Cooper invites members of the Chicago Police Department to join their reunion team. It’s produced by 50 Eggs, Inc.