Government corruption and the poisoning of an entire city's water supply may seem like a tagline ripped from the latest summer blockbuster, but for the 100,000 residents of Flint it's been their nightmare for more than five years. It was only a matter of time until Hollywood cashed in by making contaminated water sexy. Great.
It was announced Tuesday that Overbrook Entertainment, a film studio founded by James Lassiter and Will Smith in 1997, had given the green light to Flint.
According to Deadline, rapper-turned-actor Tip “T.I.” Harris and John Ortiz (Fast & Furious) have both signed on to star in the upcoming drama, which centers on “a spiritually reformed ex-convict” who finds himself involved in a dangerous romantic entanglement while the water crisis rages on in his hometown of Flint.
The last time the horrors of the Flint water crisis got the screenplay treatment was in 2017 when Lifetime aired its original small screen feature, Flint, starring Queen Latifah.
But the last time Flint, the city, got the Smith family treatment was earlier this month when Smith's son Jaden used his appearance on Ellen to announce that he had donated a Water Box to help supply Flint residents with larger quantities of filtered water faster. The portable water filtration system can supply up to 10 gallons of filtered water every minute. The city has largely been at the mercy of water bottle donations to drink, cook, and bathe with. The Water Box is slated to arrive later this month and will be available to residents for free at the First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church.
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