Donald Glover Directs and Plays 21 Savage in Movie Trailer With New Music, Natasha Lyonne and More Stars (EXCLUSIVE)

Rapper 21 Savage is back, and he’s recruited Donald Glover and “Stranger Things” star Caleb McLaughlin to play him in a trailer for what is apparently a film titled “American Dream: The 21 Savage Story,” a memoir of his incarceration by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) beginning in 2019.

As part of then president Trump’s crackdown on undocumented citizens, Savage — who was raised in Atlanta but was born in the U.K. — was arrested by ICE in 2019, held for several weeks and threatened with deportation, but the “Free 21 Savage” campaign ultimately led to his release and ability to remain in the country.

Savage teased the new film on Sunday night with a photo of Glover and McLaughlin sporting his signature face tattoos. The trailer includes new music from the Grammy winning artist, whose last solo album was “I Am > I Was” in 2018 (although he has released two collaborative albums — “Savage Mode II” with Metro Boomin in 2020 and “Her Loss” with Drake in 2022 — and toured extensively since then).

In the time since his his last album, Savage won a Grammy for his song “A Lot” and is up for five awards at next month’s ceremony; he also co headlined Drake’s “It’s All a Blur” tour last year. Glover, his brother Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori and Fam Udeorji direct the trailer for “American Dream,” which teases brand new music by Savage.

The “Atlanta” star and McLaughlin play Savage in two different generations while “in the heat of a personal crisis,” according to a release for the trailer. The “American Born” trailer also stars Natasha Lyonne, Jabari Banks as rapper producer Metro Boomin, Victoria Pedretti, Chad Lindberg, Gail Bean and internet comedian Druski.

The film was produced byTara Razavi and Udeorji. Variety will have more on the project as news becomes available..