Shia LaBeouf has signed on to star in a movie loosely based around violence at the infamous Angola Prison. God of the Rodeo comes from producer Ridley Scott. The casting follows LaBeouf last appearing on the big screen in 2024’s Megalopolis, the Francis Ford Coppola-directed flop.
The Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull actor will lead God of the Rodeo as prison inmate Buckkey, who is serving a life sentence in the real-life Angola Prison (also known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary). Angola earned the reputation as the”Alcatraz of the South” due to numerous violent clashes between inmates and guards since its founding in the 1840s as a slave plantation.
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In the film, Buckkey sees a chance to redeem himself by pursuing the prison’s rodeo training for inmates. However, Buckkey and his fellow inmates discover that they are being trained for a gladiatorial-style game that has been created for the enjoyment of Angola’s prison warden.
God of the Rodeo has been adapted for the big screen by writer-director Rosalind Ross from reporter Daniel Bergner’s vintage accounts from inside the prison, according to Deadline. Ross previously directed Mark Wahlberg’s biographical drama Father Stu, as well as serving on the writing staff of Gabriel Luna’s crime drama series Matador.
Ridley Scott is producing God of the Rodeo through his company Scott Free Films, alongside his Giannina Scott. Giannina notably produced Will Smith’s awards contender Concussion as well as her husband’s 2021 biographic drama House of Gucci, which earned a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for star Lady Gaga.
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Shia LaBeouf’s Most Notable Movie Roles | |
|---|---|
Movie | Role |
Holes | Stanley “Caveman” Yelnats IV |
Transformer Franchise | Sam Witwicky |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Mutt Williams |
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps | Jake Moore |
Nymphomaniac | Jerôme Morris |
The Louisiana State Penitentiary’s infamous reputation has been referenced countless times in pop culture, including in songs by Juvenile, The Clash, the Neville brothers and the Indigo Girls, among many others. There have been several instances of prison rioting at Angola over its near-2000 history, including a 1999 incident where inmates took two prison guards hostage and killing another.
LaBeouf most recently starred in director Francis Ford Coppola’s divisive science fiction movie Megalopolis in 2024. The high-profile project, which bombed at the box office, also featured Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Dustin Hoffman and Giancarlo Esposito in leading roles.
The Transformers actor has two other major film projects out in May — starting with Salvable, a boxing drama that debuted last Friday (May 2). Directors Björn Franklin and Johnny Marchetta’s crime drama revolves around an aging boxer whose desperate hopes of escaping his small town are at odds with his strained relationship with his teenage daughter. Toby Kebbell (For All Mankind), James Cosmo (Game of Thrones), Kíla Lord Cassidy (The Wonder) and Michael Socha (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland) feature on Salvable along with LaBeouf.
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- Prior to his Disney fame, Shia LaBeouf had early screen appearances in The X-Files, Freaks and Geeks and Touched by an Angel.
- He made his film debut in the 1998 direct-to-DVD holiday movie The Christmas Path.
- LaBeouf had his breakthrough role and earned a Daytime Emmy Award for playing Louis Stevens in Disney’s Evens Stevens.
LaBeouf is a two-time Independent Spirit Award nominee for his performances in 2016’s American Honey and 2019’s Honey Boy — the latter of which he wrote loosely based on his own childhood. He received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination in 2008 for his performance as a young Robert F. Kennedy campaign staffer in Bobby.
He will also be leading David Mamet’s adaptation of his own stage play, Henry Johnson. Mamet has reunited LaBeouf with Evan Jonigkeit, Chris Bauer and Dominic Hoffman after they all starred in his 2023 stage version. Henry Johnson is released in theaters on May 9.
God of the Rodeo does not yet have a release date, nor has a production start been announced.
Source: Deadline
