A bit of exciting casting news was just revealed involving a trio of Black Hollywood favorites, Terrence Howard, Paula Patton and Mike Epps. All three have recently signed on to star in a new film that is described as reminiscent of 2005’s Oscar-winning film Crash, which also starred Howard.

The dramatic crime thriller .38 has just announced its stars and fans of Terrence Howard, Paula Patton and Mike Epps will be very happy to learn that they will be starring together in a film surrounding the St. Louis police department. While Howard is known for playing a slew of dramatic roles, it will be nice to see both Patton and Epps step out of their respective comfort zones (hers rom-coms, his comedy) to dig deep into this police thriller.

The Hollywood Reporter was the first to announce the casting news of .38 and they also included a full synopsis of the film, as well as when and where it is expected to start shooting.

The .38 synopsis reads:

Described as a sort of ‘End of Watch’–meets-‘Crash,’ ‘.38’ tracks a rookie cop on the mean streets of St. Louis as he spends his first night on the job and, after a brutal killing occurs, sees up close the bonds of loyalty, work and family that bind together the cops, both black and white.

Howard will play a detective whose daughter goes missing on the fateful night.

Epps will portray a seasoned cop who has a family connection to a neighborhood gang leader and who doesn’t think much of the rookie.

Patton, who is in negotiations for the movie, will play Epps’ partner, who has to console the daughter of a murdered man but then joins other cops as they track down the killer.

At press time, the film is scheduled to begin shooting in May in Thomasville, Georgia, which is conveniently around the same time that Howard’s hit FOX series Empire wraps up its third season, set to return on March 22.

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