Lionsgate, a global content leader, announced today that the upcoming horror-comedy film, The Blackening, produced by MRC, will premiere in the US at the Tribeca Festival on June 13. The screening will take place at the legendary Apollo in Harlem. Following the premiere, the movie will release in theaters nationwide on June 16, 2023.

Last year, The Blackening premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim and a raucous reception during its midnight screening. Following the premiere, Lionsgate acquired the film from MRC.

The Blackening follows a group of Black friends as they reunite for a weekend getaway to celebrate Juneteenth. However, they soon find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer who forces them to play by his rules. Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop), the film is co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), and presents the sardonic question, "If the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?" The Blackening skewers genre tropes while delivering thrills and laughs. Lionsgate and MRC present a Story Company/Tracy Yvonne/Artists First/CatchLight Studios production.

The Blackening stars Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, Yvonne Orji, and Jay Pharoah, and is produced by Jason Clark, Marcei A. Brown, E. Brian Dobbins, Tracy Oliver, Tim Story, and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett. Perkins serves as a co-producer, and Vicky Story is the associate producer.

Director Tim Story said, “Of course, we want The Blackening to be enjoyed by everyone – but it’s especially a celebration of and a theatrical event for Black culture. This film really shows that Black people are not a monolith – there are so many different things that define us, but also bring us together. That’s why it’s so deeply meaningful that we are premiering at the legendary Apollo. For more than a century, this theater has been the epicenter that originated so much Black entertainment before it sent its shockwaves out to the world. As we lead up to the release of our film on Juneteenth Weekend, it’s a unique pleasure to be celebrating our U.S. premiere in this historic place.”