Body Brokers and Long Gone Heroes helmer John Swab has returned with King Ivory. It’s got a blistering new trailer as well along with a poster from Saban Films.
The cast is led by James Badge Dale and Ben Foster, along with Michael Mando, Rory Cochrane, Ritchie Coster, and George Carroll with Melissa Leo, and Sam Quartin. The film also marks a posthumous release for late actor Graham Greene who sadly passed away on September 1 at the age of 73.
From civilians to criminals to addicts to law enforcement, and everyone in between, all walks of life intersect in this thriller about the epidemic that is fentanyl; street name: King Ivory. It is business as usual for Tulsa drug cop, Layne West (James Badge Dale), battling the local criminal element, which hits too close to home when his son, Jack (Jasper Jones), gets hooked on fentanyl.
In conjunction with his partner, Ty (George Carroll), and FBI counterpart, Beatty (Rory Cochrane), West makes it his mission in life to take down those responsible, including the Mexican cartel’s local shot-caller, Ramón Garza (Michael Mando), Indian Brotherhood War Chief, Holt Lightfeather (Graham Greene), who controls state-wide trafficking while serving life inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester a.k.a. “Big Mac,” and the local Irish Mob family outfit, led by George “Smiley” Greene (Ben Foster), along with his mother, Ginger (Melissa Leo), and uncle, Mickey (Ritchie Coster).
As Holt educates West during a prison visit, “The cartels want your kids, the next generation, who want what is new, and fentanyl is new.”
King Ivory scored a win at last year’s 81st Venice Film Festival attaining the 2024 Smithers Foundation Award Winner. The film is also a centerpiece pick for the 26th Newport Beach Film Festival which kicks off on October 16, while Saban has eked out a nationwide theatrical release on November 14.
Catch the trailer:
