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James Badge Dale in 'King Ivory' Tulsa Drug Cartel Thriller Full Trailer
Hollywood

James Badge Dale in ‘King Ivory’ Tulsa Drug Cartel Thriller Full Trailer

by jummy84
written by jummy84

James Badge Dale in ‘King Ivory’ Tulsa Drug Cartel Thriller Full Trailer

by Alex Billington
October 7, 2025
Source: YouTube

“We’ll never win this war. Their lives depend on this sh&!” Roadside Attractions + Saban Films revealed an official trailer for a crime thriller titled King Ivory, currently scheduled for release starting in November. Set for a wide release in theaters – yet another new movie about fentanyl and the opioid drug crisis. This acutally premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival last year in the “Orizzonti Extra” section, and it also played at Rotterdam and the Newport Beach Film Festival earlier this year. Based upon extensive research with law enforcement, gangs, inmates, migrants, addicts – an exposé on fentanyl trafficking, and its effect on all walks of life. Set in Tulsa, it’s about a cop whose son becomes addicted, sending him deep into the underbelly of the drug world. King Ivory features an ensemble including James Badge Dale, Ben Foster, Michael Mando, Rory Cochrane, Ritchie Coster, George Carroll, Sam Quartin, newcomer Jasper Jones, Academy Award-nominee Graham Greene, and Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo. Despite all the hype, this looks like another generic, cliche action thriller with nothing new that we haven’t seen before.

Here’s the main official trailer (+ poster) for John Swab’s crime thriller King Ivory, direct from YouTube:

King Ivory Trailer

King Ivory Poster

Based upon extensive research with law enforcement, gangs, inmates, migrants, and addicts, all walks of life intersect in this fentanyl exposé. With potency 100 times that of heroin and nearly undetectable at the border, fentanyl has flooded the market, triggering a tidal wave of overdoses, crime, and addiction. Work hits too close to home for Tulsa drug cop, Layne West, when his son, Jack, also becomes an addict. In conjunction with his partner, Ty, and FBI counterpart, Beatty, West makes it his mission to take down those responsible, including the Mexican cartel’s local shot-caller, Ramón Garza, Indian Brotherhood War Chief, Holt Lightfeather, who controls state-wide trafficking from inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester a.k.a. “Big Mac,” and the local Irish Mob family outfit, led by George “Smiley” Greene, along with his mother, Ginger, and uncle, Mickey. As Holt educates West: “The cartels want your kids, the next generation, who want what is new, and fentanyl is new.” King Ivory is written and directed by American filmmaker John Swab, director of the movies Let Me Make You a Martyr, Run with the Hunted, Body Brokers, Ida Red, Candy Land, Little Dixie, One Day as a Lion, Lone Gone Heroes previously. Produced by Jeremy M. Rosen. This initially premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival last year. Roadside + Saban will debut Swab’s King Ivory movie in theaters nationwide starting November 14th, 2025 this fall. Any good?

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Should Cartel Threats Against Mexican Artists Be Taken Seriously?
Music

Should Cartel Threats Against Mexican Artists Be Taken Seriously?

by jummy84
written by jummy84

A banner draped from a Tijuana bridge earlier this week carried a chilling warning in bold black letters: “Junior H, refrain from showing up on 08/11. If not, you’re going to get yourself killed.” The threat, currently under investigation by the Baja California authorities, is seemingly the latest attempt by one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels to assert its control over both artists, and the city the banner is placed in.

In recent years, Grupo Firme, Fuerza Regida, and Peso Pluma have received similar warnings from different cartels, prompting them to cancel shows to protect themselves and their fans. A rep for Junior H, however, told Rolling Stone last week that the corridos artist still plans to perform as scheduled.

As música mexicana has surged in popularity, so have “narcomantas” — banners deployed by Mexican cartels to threaten artists and rival groups. In extreme cases usually unrelated to music, these narcomantas have been accompanied by severed heads or dead bodies; other times, they carry simple but serious messages that demand to be taken at face value.

“Narcomantas need to be taken completely seriously,” Mexico City-based criminal defense attorney Ilan Katz Mayo tells Rolling Stone. “The medium is the message. The simple fact that a narcomanta exists sends a message: the situation is dangerous and the threat is real.”

Katz Mayo says that narcomantas are a “way for organized criminal organizations to scare people” and also threaten other cartels or those who work with them. “Sometimes, criminal organizations may have issues with a singer over a lyric or because the artist supports someone who antagonizes that group,” Katz Mayo explains.

In Junior H’s case, the threat — allegedly from the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación — explicitly referenced his narcocorridos: “Not singing narcocorridos now won’t save you. We do not forgive,” it read. The message seemed to point to his past music that alludes to leaders of rival criminal organizations.

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Though most of Junior’s music centers on romance and heartbreak, at least two of his songs seem to allude to the Sinaloa Cartel, the group once led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, CJNG’s chief rival. In 2022, Junior released “El Hijo Mayor,” seemingly about El Chapo’s late eldest son, in which he sings: “I don’t even need to mention his name / I was the eldest son of that much-talked-about man.” And on his 2023 hit with Peso Pluma, he drops another reference, seemingly invoking “701,” El Chapo’s numerology, adding: “Low profile, the guy, and he’s missed / Though he’s gone, he’s never forgotten.”

“In Junior H’s case, it seems like a personal issue with the artist,” says Katz Mayo. “It’s clear that if someone is offended by something said, the message sent is meant to intimidate the artist.”

But the threats can be grave: While the cartel has not taken responsibility for the killing, Ernesto Barajas, frontman of Enigma Noteño, was gunned down just last month, two years after receiving threats from the CJNG. And in years past, other Mexican artists have died at the hands of the cartel: Corrido legends Chalino Sánchez, murdered in 1992, Valentín Elizalde, killed in 2006, and K-Paz de la Sierra’s Sergio Gomez were targeted by cartels over their musical ties to rival criminal organizations.

With the narcomantas, the intimidation may be a way to assert dominance in a given territory and signal to both artists and rival groups who can assert the most control. According to Katz Mayo, it can also stem from an economic disadvantage: As artists rise in status and begin working with major promoters unwilling to engage with organized crime, local cartels find it difficult to exert their influence.

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“Essentially, there are two main motives: one is visceral, and the other is economic,” Katz Mayo says. “A local promoter or regional organizer might pay extortion fees, but large companies like Live Nation cannot do that. They’re unable to operate that way.”

Katz Mayo says that in some areas, concerts are sometimes held in places or areas that are owned or controlled by members of criminal organizations, and have a financial interest in shows played there: whether it’s a venue, the alcohol sold, the security, or simply the area where the concert is being held.

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“As artists grow, there are fewer opportunities for criminal organizations to profit because international managers are now involved,” he explains. “The more important the artist and the better their promoters, the more resistance you’ll see from these groups.”

A rep for Junior H declined to comment for this story.

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Alleged Cartel Threats Being Investigated by Mexican Authorities
Music

Alleged Cartel Threats Being Investigated by Mexican Authorities

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Corridos star Junior H is the latest Mexican artist to receive alleged death threats from a drug cartel ahead of his upcoming tour dates in the region. According to Billboard, the Mexican state of Baja California prosecutor’s office is investigating an ominous banner found at his home.

According to authorities, the banner was found at the Mexican-American artist’s home in the Buena Vista neighborhood of Tijuana, warning him not to perform at the city’s Explanada del Estadio Caliente on November 9th. That concert is currently set as the kick-off show of the Mexican leg of Junior H’s “$AD BOYZ LIVE & BROKEN TOUR.”

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The Baja California prosecutor’s office has said authorities “will provide full security” if Junior H decides to still play the show. His team has declined to give an official statement.

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This isn’t the first time a popular corridos singer has received death threats from Tijuana drug cartels. In 2023, Peso Pluma was forced to cancel six shows in Mexico. Earlier this year, Grupo Firme canceled a performance in Sinaloa after a similar banner appeared in their hometown.

Junior H is currently on the US leg of his tour, which is set for upcoming stops in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Get tickets to remaining dates here.

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Junior H Plans to Perform at Tijuana Concert Despite Cartel Threat
Music

Junior H Plans to Perform at Tijuana Concert Despite Cartel Threat

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Authorities are investigating an alleged cartel death threat directed at Junior H asking the corridos singer not to perform in Tijuana at an upcoming show. A rep for the singer confirms to Rolling Stone on Wednesday that “the date is still on” and tickets will continue to be on sale, despite the alleged threat.

According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, a “narco manta,” or banner, was allegedly hung in the Buena Vista area of Tijuana and found by police around 4 a.m. Wednesday morning. The Baja California Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to Billboard that it was investigating the incident.

“Junior H, refrain from showing up on 08/11. If not, you’re going to get yourself killed,” reads the supposed banner, shared on social media, in Spanish. “Stop the nonsense: Not singing narcocorridos, it won’t save you. We do not forgive. Signed: CJNG.”

The prosecutor’s office in Tijuana did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment but told Billboard that it would “provide full security” for Junior if he does choose to perform at the city’s Estadio Caliente.

In recent months, Junior has refrained from singing the narcocorrdios in his discography, including during a Coachella performance in April. Junior welcomed Peso Pluma onstage and they skipped their collaboration “El Azul,” written about a drug cartel leader in Sinaloa.

Junior H is currently on his $ad Boyz Live & Broken Tour across the United States, with a show scheduled for Charlotte tomorrow. He’s set to conclude his U.S. run in early November at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. He is still scheduled to play Tijuana two days later, on Nov. 8.

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The news around Junior H’s threat comes several months after Grupo Firme canceled a performance in Mazatlán, Sinaloa over a narcomanta Firme ended up canceling the show. “The well-being of the people who’ve been with us through this journey: our family, which is all of you, our fans, is and will always be the most important thing,” read the statement.

Several years, ago Peso Pluma and Fuerza Régida were forced to cancel their shows in Tijuana after similar narco manta threats — supposedly on behalf of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación — were placed around the city.

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