Daniel Kaluuya Reteaming With Shaka King For ‘The Parlay’ At Amazon MGM Studios; Teyana Taylor Circling To Star

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Kaluuya is reteaming with his Judas and the Black Messiah director Shaka King for the new Amazon MGM Studios and HyperObject Industries’ feature The Parlay. One Battle After Another Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominated Supporting Actress Teyana Taylor is circling to star.

We hear that Judas and the Black Messiah Oscar winning Best Supporting Actor winner Kaluuya is bringing King and Taylor together for this film. Judas and the Black Messiah earned Oscar noms, winning, in addition to the H.E.R. original song “Fight for You”.

The Parlay will be based on an original spec by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie. Akers, Bronkie, and King are revising. While the plot is being kept secret at this time, we understand the project is being billed as an action crime.

Hyperobject Industries’ Adam McKay and Todd Schulman; I’d Watch That’s Shaka King and Brandon Harris; and 59% Productions’ Kaluuya will produce.

Kaluuya will next be seen in the Chris Rock-directed Misty Green and starring in A24 film Hotel Hotel Hotel Hotel, also produced by Hyperobject. Kaluuya is co-writing a Spider-Punk film for Sony Pictures Animation after voicing the scene-stealing Spider-Punk in the box office sensation Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Kaluuya is producing a live-action Barney movie under his 59% Productions banner, in partnership with Mattel and A24. Kaluuya shot to international acclaim for his Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated leading turn in Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning smash hit Get Out. Other notable credits include Jordan Peele’s Nope, Steve McQueen’s Widows, Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, Lena Waithe’s Queen & Slim and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. Kaluuya is represented by WME, B-Side Management and Johnson Shapiro Slewett Kole.

Taylor is a Grammy nominated recording artist, in addition to being a choreographer, filmmaker, and actress. She broke out in 2023’s A Thousand and One. Her recent on-screen work includes The Rip (Netflix), All’s Fair (Hulu), Straw (Netflix), Scary Movie 6 (Paramount) and the upcoming Kevin Hart film 72 Hours (Netflix). She will make her feature directorial debut with Paramount’s Get Lite, due out in theaters in 2027. Taylor is represented by WME, and Taylormade Management.

Akers and Bronkie are known for their fictional podcast Limetown, which they subsequently adapted as a TV series of the same name, starring Jessica Biel and Stanley Tucci. They also wrote the movie Him, which originally sold competitively as a spec, and was released theatrically by Universal. They also penned the original sci-fi thriller Control, which is now in post for Studiocanal. James McAvoy stars in the film, which was directed by Robert Schwentke. Akers and Bronkie are represented by WME and Ziffren Brittenham.

King is repped by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

HyperObject Industries is behind such pics as Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, Searchlight’s The Menu, and Netflix’s hit thriller Thrash  from writer director Tommy Wirkola, starring Phoebe Dynevor.

The HyperObject Industries team includes McKay’s long-time producer Kevin Messick and producers Schulman, Betsy Koch and Maeve Cullinane. In addition they have Fresh starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan from director Mimi Cave with a screenplay from Lauryn Kahn which was released on Hulu. Messick and McKay are currently in production with the John Lee Hancock Netflix courtroom drama surrounding U.S. chemical company Monsanto, starring Jonathan Bailey, Laura Dern, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia McDermott, David Duchovny, Melonie Diaz, Bilal Hasna and Greg Kinnear. Meanwhile, Koch is in production in Panos Cosmatos’ Flesh of the Gods, starring Kristen Stewart and Wagner Moura.