Omar Benson Miller

Homefront is an upcoming action-thriller directed by Gary Fleder. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Logan and was adapted into a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone. Phil Broker (Statham), a low level DEA agent sees his quiet family life turned upside down when his path crosses with a band of drug traffickers, led by Gator (Franco), a meth kingpin.

Based on the incredible true story, The Express follows the inspirational life of college football hero Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Following his draft by the NFL, tragedy struck the star athlete and he was never able to take the professional field. But his tale would forever change the face of professional sports. Raised in poverty in the Southern Tier of New York State, Davis overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to become an unstoppable running back for the Syracuse Orangemen. Under the guidance of coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid) - a hard-nosed surrogate father with an obsession for winning a national championship - Davis would develop from an impressive high-school athlete into a legend. While everyone agreed Ernie Davis was a miracle player, few thought this quiet young man would become an icon for the burgeoning civil rights movement dividing America in the early 1960's. Refusing to play by the unspoken racist rules of the day, Davis broke through one barrier after another to alter the way fans looked at men of his color. Though struck a terrible blow in the prime of his life, his spirit soared when most would crumble. Forcing his bull-headed coach to re-examine a life lived in color-based privilege, Davis would join the ranks of black pioneers who inspired a movement that smashed barriers on and off the playing field. (taken from universalpictures.com)

A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss. Grief, recovery, and human contact. Brian is a great guy - a sweet father, a good husband, and a loyal friend to his boyhood pal Jerry who's a junkie. When tragedy strikes, Jerry tries to help Brian's wife and children cope, and Audrey, Brian's widow, tries to help Jerry kick the habit. Loss and addiction are stubborn. The story starts on the day of the funeral, with Brian appearing in flashbacks. A neighbor's divorce, a dinner party that includes a young woman from the Narcotics Anonymous group Jerry attends, and thinking back to a fire in Brian and Audrey's garage give the story texture. —<jhailey@hotmail.com>

A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from a life of crime to pursue his passion of rap music.

John Clark (Richard Gere) is a lawyer with a charming wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon) and loving family with kids Jenna (Tamara Hope) and Evan (Stark Sands), who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. John takes the L train to work, where he helps clients decide how to distribute their assets in the event of their death. To John, every life can be summed up on a piece of paper with assets and liabilities, and that is a very depressing thought to him. John is so into his thoughts about the meaning of life, that he cannot even tell his wife what he wants as a gift for his own birthday. John feels very lonely as all members of his house are completely engrossed in their own lives and do not have time for him. Each evening on his commute home through Chicago, John sees a beautiful woman staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for ballroom dancing lessons, hoping to meet her. As John enters the dance studio, he is greeted by Paulina, who registers him as a single student, with classes at $45 per hour, which drops to $40 per hour, if a 8 class package is chosen. John is signed up for a group that meets every Wednesday at 7:30 PM for 8 weeks. At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out to be not Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), but the older Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette), and John proves to be just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates Chic (Bobby Cannavale) and Vern (Omar Miller) on the dance-floor. Chich admits that he has come to the dance studio to pick up dates. The guys were supposed to be paired with women who had also signed up for the same class, but the women leave after taking one look at the 3 guys. This leaves the men alone with Mitzi. Mitzi ends up using may props on the dance floor to teach the basics of ballroom dancing to the 3 men. Meanwhile Paulina practices her routine with her partner Francesco in a different room at the studio. Vern reveals that he is soon getting married and he took up ballroom dancing to surprise his fiance and also to lose 3 pounds. Bobbie is the only female at the studio, who comes in as Mitzi allows her to practice anytime she wants. Bobbie tells the guys that all the women attend a competitor dance studio, which is considered hip and more glamorous. Bobbie aims to compete at Chicago's biggest ballroom dancing competition and is looking for a partner. Bobbie tells the guys that Paulina competed and lost at Black Pool, an England dance competition that attracts the best dancers from all over the world. She competed with her partner and lover, who ended up dumping her. Thats when Paulina felt lost and came back to the US and became a teacher with Mitzi. As the classes progress, John finds himself attracted to the mysterious Paulina. This also means that John is late coming home once every week. Jenna notes that John seems happier than usual and points it out to Beverly. Beverly finds that her colleague's husband is having an affair and suspects that John is having one too. Even worse, when John does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date. John finds that his office colleague Link has also joined the dance class. At office, Link is bald and boring and yet he is an expert at Latin dances and has long luscious hair (on account of a wig) at the dance class. Link says that he is passionate about dancing and was mistaken for being gay all his life. Link says that his dream is to be able to dance under his own name for the whole world to see. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago's biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance. But the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife Beverly becomes suspicious. She hires a private investigator to find out what John is doing, but when she finds out the truth, she chooses to discontinue the investigation and not invade her husband's privacy. John is partnered with Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter) for the competition, although his friend Link (Stanley Tucci) steps in to do the Latin dances. Link and Bobbie do well in the Latin dances, and while John and Bobbie's waltz goes well, John hears his wife and daughter in the crowd during the quickstep, and is distracted by trying to find them. He and Bobbie fall and are disqualified, and John and Beverly argue in the parking structure. John quits dancing, to everyone's dismay. Paulina, having been inspired by John to take up competing again, is leaving to go to Europe, and is having a going-away party at the dance studio. She sends John an invitation, but he's not convinced to go until his wife leaves out a pair of dancing shoes that she bought him. He goes and meets Beverly at work, convinces her that while he loves dancing, he still loves her just as much, and they dance. They go to the party and John and Paulina have one last dance before she leaves. The end scene shows everyone afterwards: Link and Bobbie are now together. Chic, who was actually gay, dances at a club with his partner. Miss Mitzi finds a new partner, and they are happy together. John and Beverly are back to normal and dance in the kitchen. Vern, newly married to his fiance, dances with her at their wedding. The private investigator that Beverly hired, Devine (Richard Jenkins), starts up dance lessons and Paulina, with a new partner, competes at Blackpool, the competition that she had lost years before.

Detroit 1995, Jimmy is an aspiring rap artist, trying to make a music career for himself. Although encouraged by his friends, Jimmy worries about his potential as a rapper. One night, Jimmy 'chokes' during a rap battle at a local venue (with a stage name of B-Rabbit), the Shelter, and he leaves the stage humiliated. Jimmy becomes speechless when the African American rappers (from the group called "Leaders of the Free World") attack his white trash background, and term him as privileged and out of touch with reality. Jimmy's friends include Future, Cheddar Bob, Sol George (Omar Benson Miller) and Iz (De'Angelo Wilson). Jimmy Smith (Eminem), a young and unhappy blue-collar worker from a poor family, struggling with different aspects of his life. He has moved back north of 8 Mile Road to the rundown trailer home in Warren, Michigan of his alcoholic mother, Stephanie (Kim Basinger), his sister Lily (Chloe Greenfield), and Stephanie's abusive live-in boyfriend Greg (Michael Shannon). Jimmy has to move in with Stephanie as he has been fired from the pizza place for being late too often. He needs a place to stay till he can get a job and make rent. Jimmy is focused on getting his music career started, but he seems unable to catch a break. Just recently, he ends a relationship with his girlfriend, Janeane (Taryn Manning) (Jimmy left her his car as she claimed that she is pregnant) and begins a new relationship with Alex (Brittany Murphy), whom he meets at the factory when she shows up one day looking for her brother. Jimmy comes to realize that his life has remained largely the same since he graduated high school (Greg used to be classmates with Jimmy and Future at school). At first, Jimmy considers himself a victim of his circumstances and blames others for his problems. Over time, though, Jimmy begins to take more responsibility for the direction of his life. Stephanie discovers an eviction notice as Jimmy is getting ready for work. Stephanie wants to hide the notice from Greg as he is supposed to get a fat settlement check from an accident, and Stephanie hopes that she and Lily can move into a new house with that money. She doesn't want to freak out Greg and wants Jimmy to help with the money. Jimmy appears to decide to take his day job more seriously, and this becomes evident to his supervisor at the factory. Initially, when Jimmy requests extra shifts, his supervisor Manny laughs at him (because of his tendency to be late to work), but by the end, Jimmy's improved attitude and performance earns him the extra work he had originally asked for. Jimmy is friends with Wink, who has ties to a record label promoter. Wink has promised Jimmy that he will take Jimmy along for a record deal with the promoter. Jimmy's friend Future does not trust Wink and considers him to be a negative influence. Through Jimmy, Wink meets Alex. Jimmy relationship with Wink becomes strained after he discovers that Wink does promotional work for Jimmy's rivals, a rap group known as "Leaders of the Free World". Papa Doc is the leader of this group and he particularly dislikes Jimmy. He even pulls a gun on Jimmy during one of their confrontations but is pulled back by his entourage. At one point, Jimmy and his friends get into a violent brawl with the Free World crew (When Jimmy watches Wink with Papa Doc, having a meeting), which is disrupted when Jimmy's friend, Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones), threatens them with a gun and accidentally shoots himself in the leg; he survives after being rushed to the hospital. During a lunch break at work, one of Jimmy's co-workers performs a freestyle rap insulting his co-worker, Paul, insinuating Paul is gay. Jimmy raps a freestyle defending Paul, which improves his confidence after a positive reception. Alex arrives and is impressed by Jimmy's talent, and they have sex. Despite her best attempts to keep the eviction notice a secret, Greg discovers it and confronts Stephanie. When Jimmy punches Greg for pushing his mother to the ground, they fight, ending in Greg leaving Stephanie for good. Jimmy's relationship with Alex ends when Jimmy walks in on his friend Wink (Eugene Byrd) having sex with her. Jimmy beats up Wink, which later causes Wink to officially join forces with Jimmy's enemies, the Leaders of the Free World. Later, Wink and the Free World gang jump Jimmy outside of his mother's trailer, but when one member pulls a gun on Jimmy, Wink stops him, and they leave. After the group has left Jimmy alone, his mother arrives with enough money to pay to avoid eviction, having won $3,200 at a bingo tournament. As Jimmy finds Stephanie lying on the porch, they have an argument, prompting Stephanie to kick Jimmy out of the house. Jimmy's friends hail him as an incredible rapper, and his friend Future (Mekhi Phifer) puts pressure on Jimmy to get his revenge by competing against the Leaders of the Free World at the next rap battle. However, Jimmy's late-night shift conflicts with the next battle tournament. A visit from Alex changes his mind about competing. Paul (Craig Chandler), a gay co-worker who Jimmy stood up for earlier, agrees to cover for him and he participates in the battle. The battle acts as kind of a "final conflict" with the Leaders of the Free World gang who have harassed Jimmy. It has three rounds, and in each of them Jimmy faces a member of the gang. Jimmy wins both of the first two rounds with progressively more impressive freestyle raps. In the last round, he is paired against Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie), the tournament's most feared battler. Jimmy is aware that Doc knows all his weak points, so he decides to address them preemptively with his freestyle. Jimmy acknowledges without shame his lower-class white trash roots and the various humiliations the Free World gang have inflicted on him, and then uses the difficult life he has had as a springboard to reveal the truth about Papa Doc: Doc, whose real name is Clarence, despite passing himself off as a thug, has a privileged background, having attended Cranbrook, a private high school, and growing up in a stable two-parent household. With nothing to say in rebuttal, Papa Doc hands the microphone back to Future and Jimmy wins the battle. As Jimmy leaves the venue, Future suggests that he stay and celebrate his victory while also offering a position that would allow him to host battles at The Shelter. Jimmy turns him down, claiming he has to get back to work and to find success his own way. He then starts walking back to work, feeling more confident about his future.