Chance The Rapper Set To Star In Upcoming Musical Film ‘Hope’
Earlier this year, Chance the Rapper made his film debut by starring in the pizza-themed horror flick Slice alongside Zazie Beetz. Now the Chicago-bred rapper is getting ready to hit the screen again in a musical project that will highlight his beloved city. The Grammy-winning musician has partnered with MGM to develop Hope, which will be written by Empire writer Carlito Rodriguez, according to a report from Billboard.
The film will follow a group of Chicago teens who come together to turn art into action within their community. Chance, along with his manager, Pat Corcoran of Haight Films, are working with Straight Outta Compton producer Scott Bernstein to bring the project to life. Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Nico Segal, formerly known as Donnie Trumpet, will be tasked with overseeing the film’s music. Chance has worked with Segal many times in the past; the two collaborated and released the 2015 album Surf.
“From day one, our mission at Haight Films’ has been to apply Haight Brand’s artist-first and Chicago-proud ideology to the film space. We are incredibly excited to be working alongside Chance, MGM, and Scott Bernstein to bring this vision to life,” said Corcoran in a statement.
“Chance and Nico are undoubtedly two of the most influential and innovative artists of their generation,” Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM Studios, added. “We feel thrilled, privileged and eager to be collaborating with them on such a unique project.”
There is no official release date or timetable for the product, but Chance did take to Instagram to make the announcement. The rapper posted a screenshot of an article about the film with the caption, “Hope is on its way.”
Chance is constantly looking for ways to give back to his community. He recently donated $1 million to improve mental health services across the city of Chicago, as reported by Insider. His nonprofit organization is also responsible for donating millions of dollars to local public schools, and he even purchased a local news site to prevent it from shutting down.
And it looks like Chance is staying plenty busy these days. According to a report from Vulture, the rapper will be teaming up with T.I. and Cardi B to find the next big name in hip-hop for an upcoming Netflix first talent competition show, Rhythm + Flow.
The rapper posted this note to his Instagram account and urged his followers to tag anyone who might be interested in the competition.
It will “bring together the biggest names in music to find fresh talent and help undiscovered hip-hop artists pursue their dreams.” The series will be produced by John Legend, Jeff Gaspin, Jesse Collins, Nikki Boella, Jeff Pollack, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius, and will premiere in fall of 2019.
The first season will feature 10 episodes, each with an hour-long runtime. Auditions are slated to be held in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and more. Each location will feature other major hip-hop names as guest judges.
