Minhal Baig’s Drama ‘We Grown Now’ Starring Jurnee Smollett, S. Epatha Merkerson, and More Gets Release Date [TRAILER]

Sony Pictures Classics and Stage 6 Films have officially set a release date for Minhal Baig’s coming-of-age drama ‘We Grown Now.’

Set in 1992 Chicago, the movie’s synopsis unfolds as Michael Jordan cements his status as a champion. Simultaneously, it tells the story of two young legends in their own right. Malik and Eric, best friends with wide-eyed and imaginative spirits, navigate the city in search of an escape from the monotony of school and the challenges of growing up in public housing. Their unshakable bond faces a test when tragedy strikes their community just as they are discovering their wings.

The film which stars Jurnee Smollett, S. Epatha Merkerson, Blake Cameron James, Lil Rel Howery, and Gian Knight Ramirez will open in theaters in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago on April 19 before expanding nationwide on May 10.

Watch the below.

Constructed over several decades beginning in the late 1940s, Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing complex embodied contemporary thought on housing and urban development. By 1992, however, the community — and the world — had changed significantly. Along with his mother Dolores (Jurnee Smollett) and grandmother Anita (S. Epatha Merkerson), 12-year-old Malik (Blake Cameron James) has lived in this community all his life. The same is true for his best friend Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) and together the boys know every nook, stairway, and rooftop — all of these a playing field for their (sometimes forbidden) adventures. But change is intruding on their childhood idyll. Drugs and crime are seeping into the neighbourhood and, when a sudden tragic event further shakes the families, the children’s future becomes uncertain. As Dolores weighs a new job that would take them to the unfamiliar suburbs, Malik and Eric struggle with accepting that they may have to say goodbye to each other.

We Grown Now is currently up for three three Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

Baig not only directed the film and penned the screenplay, she also produced it alongside Joe Pirro. Exec producers include Jeff Skoll and Anikah McLaren for Participant, James Schamus for Symbolic Exchange, Carrie Holt de Lama, and Smollett.

Minhal Baig hails from Chicago and boasts a portfolio of directorial credits, including the shorts “After Sophie” and “Pretext,” as well as the feature film “Hala,” starring Geraldine Viswanathan, which was acquired by Apple following its debut at Sundance. She also had an overall writing-producing TV deal with Amazon and contributed to the first season of Hulu’s “Ramy” and the final season of Netflix’s “Bojack Horseman.”