movies

Eddie Huang’s Movie Boogie, Starring Pop Smoke, Comes Out March 5

Pop Smoke and Eddie Huang. Photo: Nicole Rivelli/Focus Features

One of the last things Brooklyn drill pioneer Pop Smoke worked on before his February death was Eddie Huang’s debut film Boogie. Now, that movie is set to come out March 5, 2021, on Focus Features. Huang directed Pop Smoke in the rapper’s film debut, which will also feature unreleased music. The movie, also written by Huang — famous for his memoir Fresh Off the Boat, adapted into the ABC sitcom of the same name — follows young aspiring basketball star Alfred “Boogie†Chin, played by Taylor Takahashi, in Queens, New York. Pop Smoke plays Boogie’s rival Monk. “A lot of actors just don’t have the depth of emotion and experiences, but because of what Pop’s gone through, he has a tremendous well to draw from,†Huang recently told the New York Times of working with Pop Smoke. “Kids were coming on the bridge to watch us shoot the scenes,†he added, of the October 2019 shoot. “We would play Pop’s record. All our actors, the extras, the kids on the bridge watching us shoot scenes, everyone was doing the Woo dance. It was pretty special.†Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, came out in July.

Eddie Huang’s Boogie, Starring Pop Smoke, Comes Out March 5