Kyrie Irving's alter ego, Uncle Drew, is primed to star in his own full-length feature film next year and he'll be joined by a cast of elder ballers that includes Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, Nate Robinson and Lisa Leslie. SportsCenter shared the first image of Uncle Drew and his star-studded cast earlier today - The Carmichael Show's Lil Rel Howery and Erica Ash from Survivor's Remorse are also among the featured castmates. Nick Kroll (The League) will also reportedly have a role in the film as Howery's nemesis.
According to an article by Variety's Justin Kroll, Kyrie Irving agreed to return as his Pepsi commercial character, Uncle Drew, for the feature film back in February. Kyrie took a break from shooting the film last week so he could be formally introduced as a member of the Boston Celtics alongside Gordon Hayward, but now he's back in Atlanta to continue filming, according to Jared Weiss of Celtics' blog.
"I'm really proud of what we've been able to build with Pepsi," Irving told ESPN when the film was first announced. "And even more excited for what's ahead."
According to Variety's Dave McNary, Lil Rel Howery will play the role of a young baller in Harlem who seeks out Uncle Drew's help at Rucker Park.
Per Dave McNary,
"The film will center on a squad of the best geriatric basketball players who team up to at the famed Rucker Court in Harlem. Howery will play a young man who loves basketball and seeks out Uncle Drew’s help."
As of now there's no official release date for the film but it is expected to release sometime in 2018.
Of course, Kyrie isn't the only current NBA star who has a film in the works. His former teammate, LeBron James, is also scheduled to appear in Space Jam 2, although the release date for that film has not been announced.
Check out the first image of Uncle Drew and friends below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/903637360688197632