The Big Cigar is a limited drama series on AppleTV+ about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton’s escape to Cuba. The story is based on an article Joshuah Bearman who is also the executive producer wrote about Newton for Playboy Magazine. In 1974, Newton was accused of shooting a 17-year-old prostitute and pistol-whipping his tailor and he fled to Cuba with Schneider’s help. Schneider was a famous name in Hollywood during the ’60s because the production company co-founded with Bob Rafaelson produced The Monkees TV show and the very successful 1969 counterculture film Easy Rider. According to Bearman’s article, Schneider wrote The Cigar to help with Newton’s escape but never filmed it.
André Holland stars as Newton in the series that premieres on May 17th and will stream every Friday until June 14th. The ensemble cast includes Glynn Turman, Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, P. J. Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi and Jordane Christie. Actor, producer and director Don Cheadle will direct and executive produce the first two episodes.
