Daniel Kaluuya has co-written a futuristic dystopian drama called ‘The Kitchen’ for Netflix which will be executive produced by Michael Fassbender. Written alongside Joe Murtagh (‘Gangs of London’), it is based on an idea from the ‘Black Panther’ star, Kibwe Tavares, and Daniel Emmerson. It was also selected for the Sundance Screenwriting and Directing Lab in 2016.
Tavares, who was awarded the Sundance Special Jury Award for his animated short ‘Robots of Brixton’, is set to direct the feature, which will shoot on location in London and Paris.
‘The Kitchen’ is set in London, 2044, a future where the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits’, reads the logline. “All forms of social housing have been eradicated and London’s working classes have been forced to live in temporary accommodation on the outskirts of the city, The Kitchen is the first and the largest of its kind, it’s London’s last village harboring residents that refuse to move on and move out of the place they call home. It’s here we meet Izi, a resident of the kitchen who is desperately trying to find a way out, and 12-year-old, Benji, who has lost his mother and is searching for a family. We follow our unlikely pair as they battle to survive in a system that is stacked against them.”
Kane Robinson (‘Top Boy’) will play Izi while newcomer Jedaiah Bannerman is set to play co-lead Benji. Casting director Aisha Bywaters (‘We Are Lady Parts’) has also boarded the project.
The film is set to be released globally on Netflix in 2023.
“In 2011, I was in my barbershop and there was a guy boasting about smash and grabs — kids doing million-pound heists in a minute, getting paid £200 to do it,” said Kaluuya. “I saw the potential to unlock a unique story door to the inequality, fatherhood, class, joy, resilience, courage, defiance, and care of London.”
“Now, nearly a decade later, Kibwe Tavares, Daniel Emmerson and I are about to start production, immersing ourselves in a dystopian London that interrogates what ‘care’ means, at home and as a society, and the dangers in our future if we stay indifferent to everything around us,” he continued. “I feel blessed and honored that my first co-writing film credit is with this inspiring group of creatives, and with the support of Film 4 and Netflix.”
