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Paramount Home Entertainment will bring the critically acclaimed film BLUE STORY to U.S. audiences following its debut in the UK. The film will be available to purchase or rent on digital platforms beginning on May 5. Fans who purchase a digital copy will also have access to bonus content, including deleted/extended scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes.*
SYNOPSIS | Best friends Timmy (Stephen Odubola) and Marco (Micheal Ward) go to the same high school in Peckham, but live in neighboring London boroughs. When Marco’s beaten up by one of Timmy’s primary school friends the two boys wind up on rival sides of a never-ending cycle of gang war in which there are no winners … only victims.
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY | Rapman
STARRING | Stephen Odubola, Micheal Ward, Eric Kofi Abrefa, Khali Best, Karla-Simone Spence, Richie Campbell with Jo Martin and introducing Junior Afolabi Salokun
PARTICIPATING DIGITAL PLATFORMS | Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, Sony PlayStation Video, FandangoNOW and more.
* Availability of bonus content varies by digital retailer.
ABOUT THE FILM
BLUE STORY was released theatrically in the UK last year and was nothing short of a sensation -- passionate audience response and a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. BLUE STORY recently won Best Film at the 2020 NME Awards.
ABOUT RAPMAN
Born and raised in South-East London, Andrew Onwubolu (aka Rapman) first burst onto the public’s consciousness in 2014 with a series of short films released on YouTube that he wrote, directed, starred in, and provided music and lyrics to. Inspired by the storytelling style of rappers such as 2Pac, Eminem, and the Notorious BIG, Rapman’s shorts were a unique combination of music video and narrative filmmaking, shot on the streets of South-East London and featuring his very own rap narration.
In 2018, Rapman wrote and directed the three-part Shiro’s Story. Inspired by the true-life story of a Lewisham man who uncovers a shocking family secret, Shiro’s Story starred Joivan Wade (The First Purge)and Percelle Ascott (The Innocents), with the actors mouthing his long-form raps and Rapman appearing on-screen as a kind of Greek chorus.
Shiro’s Story rocketed him to global stardom (the 3 parts have a combined 21 million views on YT) and won him Video Of The Year at the 2018 GRM Daily Rated Awards.
Rapman suddenly found himself in huge demand on both sides of the Atlantic, signing a “life-changing” deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, who now manage him in film and TV, as well as, providing him with his own record label to release his own music and that of other artists.
Rapman is making his feature directorial and acting debut with BLUE STORY, which he also penned. It was recently announced that he will direct a film based on the Oscar-nominated A PROPHET that Dennis Lehane adapted. He was recently included on Variety’s “10 Europeans to Watch” list.
ABOUT MICHEAL WARD
Micheal Ward is the recipient of the BAFTA’s Rising Star Award (2020) for Blue Story & Top Boy, and NME’s Best Actor Award (2020) for Blue Story. He currently appears in the highly-acclaimed Netflix series Top Boy.
In Top Boy, Micheal plays one of the lead roles, Jamie, a young, hungry and ruthless gang leader that has taken over. The resurgence of Top Boy hit the headlines after it was announced that Drake James executive produced the series. Drake opened his O2 Arena show with the Top Boy trailer to much fan and press excitement ().
Micheal will also appear in the Netflix film The Old Guard alongside Charlize Theron.
Previous roles for Micheal have included Brendan in the BBC’s coming of age drama The A List and the documentary film Rude Boy: The Story of Trojan Records, where he played the part of a younger Roy Ellis.
He was recently featured in the April issue of US Vogue as well (link to online version here).
