The South by Southwest Conference and Festival has dropped the kind of announcement that makes Austin\u2019s film crowd mark their calendars: Boots Riley is returning to the festival \u2014 and he\u2019s bringing a star-packed heist comedy to kick off the event\u2019s 40th anniversary edition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI Love Boosters,\u201d Riley\u2019s long-awaited second feature, will make its world premiere as the 2026 opening night film at SXSW, which runs from March 12\u201318 in downtown Austin.<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s new film follows a crew of professional shoplifters aiming to take down a ruthless fashion mogul. And the cast? Stacked. \u201cI Love Boosters\u201d features\u00a0Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, LaKeith Stanfield, Eiza Gonz\u00e1lez, Don Cheadle and Demi Moore \u2014 a lineup that screams festival favorite.<\/p>\n
SXSW Film & TV VP Claudette Godfrey didn\u2019t bother hiding her excitement, calling the film \u201cdeliciously unpredictable\u201d in a news release that promised Riley\u2019s singular, surreal style will \u201cburst onto the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
The full festival lineup will drop in January, giving Austin\u2019s moviegoers a few more weeks to speculate about what else might land in the ever-expanding\u00a0SXSW programming universe.<\/p>\n