coming soon Updated Jan. 12, 2024

21 Savage and Donald Glover’s Movie American Dream Isn’t Just a Fever Dream

Portrait of Justin Curto

By Justin Curto, who covers music, TV, and celebrity for Vulture

The real 21. Photo: 21 Savage/Youtube

If you saw 21 Savage or Donald Glover post a film poster to Instagram for something called American Dream: The 21 Savage Story, starring both Glover and Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin as Savage, you may have thought you were dreaming. Nope. This isn’t just some promo for a single drop — per a press release, 21 really is releasing a movie with Glover and McLaughlin. He even dropped a four-minute trailer to prove it, co-directed by Donald and Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori, and Fam Udeorji. The clip, which seems to focus on 21’s 2018 ICE arrest, shows the real-life 21 Savage rapping in a deposition room between scenes of Glover- and McLaughlin-as-21 getting involved with crime and music, along with looks at co-stars like Jabari Banks, Victoria Pedretti, and Natasha Lyonne.

But we’re just left with more questions. Like, is this more of a visual album or a proper movie? And if it’s a movie, it’s going on Tubi, right? Are we getting a Childish Gambino verse? Is Natasha Lyonne playing the Queen? And how many “21” ad-libs can a feature film have? (A lot more than 21, we’re sure.) We won’t be getting answers for a bit, with the film promised to be released around Independence Day. However, 21 Savage is giving a sampling of what’s to come even earlier than July. “My 3rd Solo Album AMERICAN DREAM This Friday !!!!🇬🇧🇺🇸,” he captioned the album artwork, which shows what appears to be a childhood photo of him with various legal information overlaid. The album, featuring music inspired by the film, is out right now.

This post has been updated.

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21 Savage and Donald Glover’s Movie Isn’t Just a Fever Dream

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