Director: Artisha Mann-Cooper

Director of Photography: H

Starring: Kal Penn, Booboo Stewart & Nicole Elizabeth Berger

https://deadline.com/2025/05/kal-penn-booboo-stewart-chess-thriller-contra-1236393605/

EXCLUSIVE: Kal Penn (Designated Survivor), Booboo Stewart (X-Men: Days of Future Past), and Nicole Elizabeth Berger (Runt) are attached to headline Contra, the directorial debut of Emmy nominated producer Artisha Mann-Cooper (Eyes in the Trees).

The thriller follows a streetwise chess prodigy pulled into a brutal underground circuit where every match is a deadly gamble. As the stakes escalate, he faces off against hustlers, criminals, and a ruthless kingpin who dominates both the board and the streets.

Production begins in mid-May on the film, based on an original screenplay by chess specialists Jerry Stokes and Ahyende Sandy, with additional writing by Garett Ratcliff and Luke Genton.

Sasha Yelaun (The Old Way), Jeremy O’Keefe (Eyes in the Trees), Burns Burns (Sympathy for the Devil) of Wooden Dice Productions, Damon H Chung (Ai Love You),  and Nick Theurer (The Bay) will produce alongside Ryutaro Sato in a co-production with Overgrown Productions.  

Galen Christy (Conan The Barbarian), Jonathan J. Cooper (Eyes in the Trees) of Artman Cooper Production, and Fon Paing (Amazing Race) will serve as executive producers.

Booboo Stewart is repped by Sovereign Talent Group and TSC Entertainment. Nicole Elizabeth Berger is repped by 23 Management Group and Frederick P. Bimbler of CDAS. Kal Penn is repped by United Talent Agency and Fuller Law.