Netflix acquires Idris Elba’s shot-in-Philly ‘Concrete Cowboy' movie

Netflix on Monday acquired the worldwide rights to Concrete Cowboy, a film shot in Philly last summer starring Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin of Stranger Things, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

There is not yet a release date, but the film is tentatively set to stream on Netflix in 2021, according to the report.

Concrete Cowboy had its world premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival and, as one of the festival’s breakout films, received much praise from such publications as Vanity Fair and Deadline Hollywood. Philly native Lee Daniels and Elba were among the film’s six producers. It is the directing debut for Ricky Staub.

» READ MORE: Hollywood is talking about this film shot in Philly last summer

The film is based on Greg Neri’s 2009 novel Ghetto Cowboy and chronicles the story of 15-year-old Cole (McLaughlin), a troubled teen whose mother sends him to North Philadelphia to live with his estranged father (Elba). Cole discovers that horseback riding can serve as a refuge from the poverty and grim realities of his neighborhood.

The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, the Philadelphia organization that inspired the film, celebrates horse-riding and teaches Black youth from its Strawberry Mansion neighborhood to care for horses. The club has been around for over 100 years and was named after a vacant lot on Fletcher Street.