Demetrius Grosse Boards Sony’s George Foreman Biopic; Emmanuel Kabongo & Kevin Porter Join Christina Cooper’s ‘Rising 6’

EXCLUSIVE: Demetrius Grosse (Cabinet of Curiosities) has signed on for a role in George Tillman Jr.’s untitled George Foreman biopic for Sony Pictures and AFFIRM Films.

He joins a cast that also includes Khris Davis, Sullivan Jones, Forest Whitaker, Jasmine Mathews, Sonja Sohn, John Magaro, Shein Mompremier, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Sam Trammell, Erica Tazel, Matthew Glave and Al Sapienza, as previously announced.

The film will follow the remarkable life and times of Foreman (Davis), from Olympic Gold medalist to World Heavyweight champion, the Rumble in the Jungle fight with Muhammad Ali in Zaire, to finding his faith, retiring, and becoming a preacher. When financial hardship hits his family and church, he steps back in the ring and regains the championship at age 45, becoming the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history.

Grosse is playing Foreman’s biological father, Leroy Moorehead. Though he’s proud that he’s never missed watching one of George’s fights on TV, he’s ashamed that he messed up George’s mother’s life, and George’s too, by abandoning them. Tillman Jr. and Frank Baldwin wrote the screenplay, from an original draft by Dan Gordon. Peter Guber and David Zelon are producing for Mandalay Pictures. The film is slated for release in theaters on April 7, 2023.

Grosse recently wrapped a role on Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Netflix anthology series, Cabinet of Curiosities. He recurs on Fear the Walking Dead and will soon be seen opposite Neal McDonough in his Red Stone sequel, Boon. The actor has also appeared in films including Body Cam, Rampage, 13 Hours, Straight Outta Compton and Saving Mr. Banks. Additional TV credits include Swagger, NCIS: Los Angeles, Lovecraft Country, The Rookie, Frontier, The Brave, Westworld, Game of Silence, Justified, Banshee and ER.

Grosse is represented by Gersh, LINK Entertainment and Fox Rothschild.

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EXCLUSIVE: Emmanuel Kabonogo (Star Trek: Discovery) and Kevin Porter (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) have joined the cast of Christina Cooper’s Rising 6.

The upcoming superhero film will center around six characters from poverty-stricken areas around the world, who are recruited by government officials as experiments. Things will take an unexpected turn when the characters realize their newfound superhero powers—a result of an experiment gone wrong. The group will then unite to fight an unruly government in a new-age global battle.

Cooper (South Central Love) wrote the script with Dylan Cross and is producing. They are accompanied by a team of executive and associate producers that includes J’Tasha St. Cyr, Veronica Cosmo, Kimisha Gill, Bianca Haly, Rashawn Underdue, La’Tonda Hardy-Davis, Ian Dill, Shauna D. Balfour, Rayssa Soler, Tiaqua Howard and Samiyyah Van Sciver.

Kabongo has previously appeared in films including Run This Town and Antibirth. His TV credits include True Story, Star Trek: Discovery, Departure and Ransom. He recently appeared on OWN’s The Kings of Napa and will next be seen in April Mullen’s sci-fi thriller, Hello Stranger, with Robbie Amell, Jordana Brewster, Simu Liu, Sam Worthington and more.

Porter has been seen in films including Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Daredevil, and in such series as The Watchers, Heroes with Issues and Exposure.

Kabongo is repped by Amanda Rosenthal Talent Agency, Angie Edgar at Alchemy Entertainment and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.