Coming to US theaters this fall, “White Boy Rick” takes moviegoers to 1980s Detroit where teenage Rick has made his name as a prominent drug dealer.
Based on a true story, the film is about the life of Richard Wershe Jr., who entered the violent world of Detroit’s drug scene in his teenage years. After being recruited as an FBI informant, the teenage drug lord was later abandoned by his handlers and sentenced to life in prison age just 17 for cocaine possession. He was dubbed “White Boy Rick” by the other Detroit dealers, who were mostly Afro-Americans.
Richie Merritt makes his big-screen debut in the title role, starring alongside Matthew McConaughey as his father, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Directed by French filmmaker Yann Demange — who was, at one point, being lined up to direct the next James Bond movie — “White Boy Rick” opens September 21 in the US.