Netflix has acquired the distribution rights to The Kitchen, a dystopian thriller being produced and co-written by Daniel Kaluuya, the British actor who starred in Jordan Peele’s Get Out and will be seen in Peele’s upcoming film Nope. Netflix plans to release The Kitchen sometime in 2023.
Kaluuya is writing the screenplay with Joe Murtagh (Calm with Horses). This will mark the feature directorial debut of Kibwe Tavares, who previously worked with Kaluuya on a short film titled Jonah. Deadline notes that Tavares also executive produced the sci-fi drama Noughts & Crosses for the BBC and ” led the design and world building through his creative studio, Factory Fifteen.”
The story of The Kitchen is set in
London, 2044, a future where the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. All forms of social housing have been eradicated and London’s working classes have been forced to live in temporary accommodation on the outskirts of the city. The story follows Izi, a resident of who is desperately trying to find a way out and 12-year-old, Benji, who has lost his mother and is searching for a family, as they battle to survive.
Kane Robinson (Top Boy) is on board to star in the film with newcomer Jedaiah Bannerman.
Kaluuya is producing The Kitchen through his company 59% Productions, while Daniel Emmerson produces for DMC Film. Theo Barrowclough is co-producing, while Conor McCaughan and Michael Fassbender serve as executive producers for DMC. This project was developed through the Sundance Screenwriting and Directing Lab in 2016, so production on The Kitchen has been a long time coming.
Filming will take place in London and Paris.
Kaluuya earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in Get Out, and later won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in Judas and the Black Messiah. The Kitchen will be his first feature writing credit, but he has written short films before, as well as two episodes of the TV series Skins. His other acting credits include Skins, Doctor Who, Psychoville, Black Mirror, Kick-Ass 2, Sicario, Black Panther, Widows, and Queen & Slim.
We’ll keep you updated on The Kitchen as the project continues to move forward.