Down with the King, the upcoming feature film debut of influential hip-hop artist Freddie Gibbs, is set to hit the film festival circuit this year. Collider is thrilled to share an exclusive trailer that reveals new details about the film's story and announce the film is making its debut on Digital and VOD June 28. The story of Down With The King follows a rapper that goes by Money Merc (Gibbs) who finds himself being sent to a small-town farming community of Berkshires by his manager Paul, played by David Krumholtz (The Deuce), Being disillusioned and sick of the pressures of being a celebrity as well as the music industry as a whole while also coming to enjoy the simple life of the country, Merc announces his retirement, which sends Paul out to the countryside to try and get him to reconsider.
The first trailer shows off this conflict as it opens with Merc on stage before cutting to the rapper living in the countryside. In the trailer we see the comfortable life that Merc has found for himself, cutting up a cow carcass and playing golf with a farmer named Bob, played by Bob Tarasuk (Bob and the Trees), have a conversation with Darlene, played by Sharon Washington (Joker) and Michaele, played by Jamie Neumann (Lovecraft Country), and just doing simple farming tasks like herding cows and pigs. When he announces he is quitting on Twitter, this is when Paul shows up and we see more of Merc making music, which visually brings him stress. The trailer reaches its climax as it cuts back to Merc performing on stage when for the first time we hear him singing, which is then overlayed with the last bits of footage of him in Berkshires.
Freddie Gibbs is a world-recognized artist with a discography that includes 20-plus mixtapes, eight EPs, four official solo albums, and four top-billed collaborative records. He was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2021. Freddie Gibbs has collaborated with everyone from Pusha T, Killer Mike, Anderson Paak, and Yasiin Bey to Tyler, The Creator, Gucci Mane, A$AP Ferg, Jay Rock, and Young Thug. The film has been selected in over 26 Film Festivals and was featured as part of the ACID lineup at the Cannes Film Festival. The film has also won the Grand Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival and the Audience Award at the American Film Festival in Poland.
The film was written by Xabi Molia and Diego Ongaro (Bob and the Trees), the latter of the two also serving as director of the film. Rob Cristiano, Kim Jackson, and Zach LeBeau produced the film. Gibbs also serves as an executive producer on the project alongside Jake Craven.
Down with the King is set to be a part of over 26 film festivals in the coming year. You can watch the new trailer above, the official synopsis is below:
Rap star Money Merc has been sent by his manager, Paul, to a rural house in the Berkshires to focus on his next album. Disenchanted with his music career and the 24/7 upkeep that such fame entails, Merc has no desire to write or record music. Instead, he spends most of his time at his neighbor’s farm learning about farming and enjoying the simplicity of country life. After Merc abruptly announces his retirement on Twitter, Paul rushes to the countryside to lure him back into the music industry.
