EXCLUSIVE: After a successful world premiere at Telluride and opening night at NYFF with Rotten Tomatoes critical reviews at 80% fresh, Amazon MGM is taking Orion/Plan B’s Nickel Boys later in December.
Originally the RaMell Ross directed and co-written feature based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel was scheduled to go Oct. 25 in NYC and Nov. 1 in LA. Now Nickel Boys will debut on Dec. 13 in NYC and Dec. 20 in LA.
That’s a similar platform launch to Amazon MGM’s Oscar winner American Fiction which opened on Dec. 15 ultimately making $21M stateside. In addition, A24’s Zone of Interest had a mid December launch and expanded throughout January off the heat of several awards and noms.
The move gives Nickel Boys ample way to be discovered not only during awards season but by moviegoers. The specialty space in November is quite busy with A24’s Queer and Warner Bros’ Juror No. 2.
In addition, Amazon MGM is making 35MM prints of the film which will unspool for the December release dates.
Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida. In the movie, a bright, striving Black teenager navigates the terrors of Jim Crow South and makes a split-decision that recasts the course of his life. On the cusp of college, he’s instead sentenced to time at a notorious reformatory. There he encounters a kindred spirit, forming an alliance, but one with incalculable consequences.
Joslyn Barnes also co-wrote the movie.
Producers are Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine and Barnes. EPs are Brad Pitt, Gabby Shepard, Emily Wolfe, Kenneth Yu and Chadwick Prichard. Alex Somers and Scott Alario wrote the original score. The PG-13 feature stars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.