John Boyega Being Cancelled By Hollywood?

There is growing sentiment that Hollywood is working to cancel John Boyega after the actor left the filming of Rebel Ridge.

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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Is John Boyega being canceled by Hollywood? There are certainly some who think so right now with the actor recently leaving a big-budget movie in the middle of filming. In the wake of that news, there are some who believe the actor has been targeted by Hollywood executives with conflicting reports about why he left. At the time, it was reported that he was leaving because of family issues, but producers of the film are saying the actor was unhappy with the production and that’s why he left. 

Now, some believe that the messaging around John Boyega leaving the filming of Rebel Ridge is being framed to make it appear as if the actor is difficult to work with. Originally, the actor’s representatives cited “family reasons” as the impetus for Boyega leaving. But The Hollywood Reporter recently cited sources who claimed Boyega was unhappy with a number of different things including his accommodations. Sources say the actor just picked up and walked away without any warning, not even notifying the crew when he left. Check out some of the reactions from those who think Boyega’s reputation is being smeared by the Hollywood crowd. 

Some have taken to Twitter to say that John Boyega leaving the movie was tied to his recent mistreatment within the industry related to his public stance during the protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death from last summer. During a protest in London, Boyega had a megaphone and delivered a roughly four-minute speech to a large crowd. In a roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Boyega said that he thought at the time the speech may have hurt his career. He was asked whether “doors were closed” to him following the speech. He lamented that he thought, even at the time, that industry executives would not be happy with his decision to speak out. 

Rebel Ridge was being developed by Netflix and was part of the deal signed between John Boyega and the streamer last year. The deal was set to include a number of feature-length films for the actor, but would also have films produced through his company UpperRoom Productions. The latter set were going to be an offering of non-English, African-based content. Boyega’s representatives have said his departure from Rebel Ridge has not put that deal in jeopardy. 

The reason this John Boyega exit from Rebel Ridge has become such a big story is that this kind of thing is incredibly rare. It almost never happens that talent leaves a production permanently while filming and on location. Sure, there are incidents of frustration or worse, but the financial and industry implications typically preclude a full-on walkout from the star of a film. Boyega didn’t not go into detail on what his family issues were and there’s been no additional news on that front. 

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If Hollywood, is in fact, attempting to cancel John Boyega, it’s unlikely to work. The actor has a number of productions in the pipeline right now even with Rebel Ridge off the table. He’s set to star in They Cloned Tyrone alongside Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Paris. That flick is in post-production. And there was exciting news recently that Boyega would be making a sequel to the movie that put him on the map. That would be Attack the Block 2.