A teaser trailer has dropped for Killing Castro, a biographical political thriller executive produced by 50 Cent and DJ Khaled, starring Al Pacino. The film hits theaters December 11, 2026, before arriving digitally December 18.
Set in 1960s New York, the film follows the CIA, FBI, and the Mafia as they converge to stop Fidel Castro, played by Diego Boneta, from delivering a pivotal speech at the United Nations following his rise to power in Cuba. When Castro unexpectedly relocates to Harlem’s Hotel Theresa at the invitation of Malcolm X, played by Kendrick Sampson, a CIA operative, a young translator, and a hotel worker are pulled into a tightening, covert plot against him. In the teaser, Pacino’s character, CIA operative Robert Maheu, recruits a young translator, played by Xolo Maridueña, into the scheme: “Don’t be afraid, I’m from the U.S. government,” he tells him. “Fidel Castro is staying in this hotel, yes? You will be my eyes, my ears, my hands.” The footage also shows Castro arriving in the U.S. and shaking hands with Malcolm X, while Maheu’s voiceover frames the stakes bluntly: “Castro poses a threat to our democracy. This threat must be neutralized.”
The cast also includes KiKi Layne, Nicole Beharie, Frankie Faison, Alexander Ludwig, Ron Livingston, Logan Marshall-Green, Titus Welliver, and Paul Ben-Victor. Killing Castro is directed by Eif Rivera, marking his feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Thomas V. DeGrezia and Leon Hendrix III, based on an earlier screenplay by Colin Bateman. Brad Feinstein and Christina Weiss Lurie produce.
With a true historical flashpoint reimagined through the lens of a covert assassination plot, and Malcolm X’s real-world alliance with Castro woven directly into the story, Killing Castro positions itself as a politically charged thriller grounded in one of the Cold War’s more overlooked intersections with the Civil Rights era.