Apple TV+ has released the trailer for The Big Cigar series about Huey P. Newton’s escape to Cuba with help from Hollywood director Bert Schneider. The story is based on an article Joshuah Bearman wrote for Playboy Magazine about Newton fleeing to Cuba in 1974 after facing murder charges in California. Newton had been arrested for the fatal shooting of a young Black prostitute and after posting bond fled to Cuba where he lived for three years. Schneider had created a fake movie to help Newton’s plan to the leave the country but the feature was never completed. The Big Cigar is mostly true and reenacts some the events that happened with Schneider’s potential scheme. Don Cheadle has directed two of the six episodes for the show that premieres on May 17th. André Holland portrays Newton with a cast including Glynn Turman, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Jordane Christie, Tiffany Boone, Olli Haaskivi, Marc Menchaca, P.J. Byrne and Alessandro Nivola. Joshuah Bearman, Jim Hecht and Janine Sherman Barrois are executive producers.
