Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat is set to produce the upcoming film Xeno, which will star Omari Hardwick, Trae Romano, and Lulu Wilson. Matthew Loren Oates wrote and will direct the film, which is scheduled to begin production in Albuquerque on May 8th.
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The plot follows a teenage girl who befriends a frightening alien that crashes in the desert near her home. As the government agents approach, she protects her dangerous new companion while also dealing with her mother’s depression and her mother’s abusive boyfriend.
Hart, Bryan Smiley, and Luke Kelly-Clyne will produce Xena for Hartbeat, alongside Oates and Shana Marie. Thai Randolph, Kevin Healey, and Ty Walker will executive produce for Hartbeat. Hart’s media company is collaborating with The Henson Company to build the film’s alien creature.
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Hartbeat is also producing The Backup, a comedy for Universal Pictures, which is being produced by and starring Keke Palmer. Additionally, they are developing a feature adaptation of Danielle Nicolet’s short Black Karen, which emerged from Nicolet’s time as part of Hartbeat’s Women Write Now screenwriting fellowship.
Hardwick, a three-time NAACP Image Award winner known for his role in Starz’s hit series Power, will also star in Xena. He recently played a major role in the Netflix series Pieces of Her with Toni Collette and stars in the drama To Live and Die and Live, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Hardwick is best known on the film side for his performances in Army of the Dead, Sorry to Bother You, Middle of Nowhere, For Colored Girls, Kick-Ass, and Miracle at St. Anna. Among his upcoming projects are two films from Netflix: The Mothership with Halle Berry and the Jennifer Lopez-led action thriller The Mother.
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