restitution<\/a>.\u201d DuVernay will direct from a screenplay by Jesse Qui\u00f1ones, based on an original idea.<\/p>\n\n\tThe project was announced on Tuesday during Canal+\u2019s ORIGINAL+ presentation at the Olympic in Paris and marks the first feature film collaboration between DuVernay and Oyelowo since 2014\u2019s \u201cSelma.\u201d In that film, Oyelowo portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. amid the 1965 Voting Rights March from Selma to Montgomery. The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for best picture and won the Oscar for best original song.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAva and I have been looking for the right story to tell together again. \u2018Heist of Benin\u2019 is that story,\u201d Oyelowo said in a statement announcing the film. \u201cIt\u2019s thrilling and high-powered with deeply resonant themes that matter to us both.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDuVernay added, \u201cReuniting with David in this way feels full circle. This film speaks to history, identity and love, all through the lens of a high-stakes, modern adventure. I\u2019m thrilled to bring it to life with him and\u00a0Studiocanal.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to starring in the film, Oyelowo will also produce the project under his Yoruba Saxon banner. The film is also produced by Endurance Media\u2019s Steve Richards and Jake Katofsky alongside Yoruba Saxon\u2019s Lisa Bruce. Qui\u00f1ones will executive produce.<\/p>\n
Studiocanal will finance, distribute and handle international sales. Ron Halpern, Shana Eddy and Sam Shipp will oversee for the studio.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe are delighted to have a part in reuniting this dynamic creative duo on \u2018Heist of Benin\u2019 and cannot think of a better filmmaker than Ava to bring this captivating, timely heist-thriller to life,\u201d stated Anna Marsh, CEO of Studiocanal and Chief Content Officer and deputy CEO of Canal+.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuVernay and Oyelowo are represented by CAA. DuVernay is also repped by Cohen & Gardner. Oyelowo is also repped by Hamilton Hodell and Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang. Qui\u00f1ones is repped by Gersh, Industry Entertainment and Revolution Talent.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
David Oyelowo\u00a0and\u00a0Ava DuVernay\u00a0are reuniting for the new film, \u201cHeist of Benin,\u201d more than a decade after their Academy Award-winning film \u201cSelma.\u201d Oyelowo will star in the film, which is set in modern-day London and described as \u201ca thriller that intertwines art, love and restitution.\u201d DuVernay will direct from a screenplay by Jesse Qui\u00f1ones, based on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-art"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 18:24:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}