Two years after Mo'Nique and Lee Daniels put their years-long feud to rest, fans are getting an official look at the pair's first project together since the release of their Academy Award-winning film Precious in 2009.
On Tuesday, Netflix unveiled the first trailer and images from The Deliverance, Daniels' upcoming thriller starring Mo'Nique, Andra Day, Glenn Close, Rob Morgan, Caleb McLaughlin and recent Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis.
The Deliverance tells the story of Ebony Jackson (Day), a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, that moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Anthony B. Jenkins, Demi Singleton and Andra Day in 'The Deliverance'
The streamer boasts that the film is "inspired by a true story," and will give viewers a "genre-defying take on darkness, possession, and finding a higher power."
Anthony B. Jenkins, Miss Lawrence, Demi Singleton, Tasha Smith and Omar Epps also star in the upcoming supernatural thriller.
Watch the trailer for The Deliverance below.
In April 2022, Deadline reported that Mo'Nique was replacing Octavia Spencer in the film, previously titled Demon House, after Spencer had a scheduling conflict with her Apple TV+ television series, Truth Be Told. Mo'Nique stars as "a social worker who helps a family through a series of exorcisms."
Mo'Nique's part in the film was announced hours before she brought Daniels onstage during her Mo'Nique and Friends: April Fools Day With the Queen of Comedy show in Staten Island, New York, where the two would publicly reveal that they had put aside their longstanding feud.
The pair had been at odds since Precious' release in 2009 when, after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for her critically acclaimed performance as the titular character's abusive mother Mary, the 56-year-old comedian made headlines for her claims that she was "blackballed" from Hollywood, naming Daniels as one of the culprits.
Back in 2015, Mo'Nique told ET that Daniels was the one to inform her of her "blackballing," explaining some were upset that she didn't "campaign" for her Oscar.
"I never said I was blacklisted, I said Lee Daniels told me that I had been blackballed. I never said that," the actress said. "Because the calls didn't stop coming once I won the award, the scripts didn't stop coming. But what did happen was the calls and the scripts that were coming and the offers that were being made was as if I had just gotten to Hollywood off the Greyhound bus. And I was like, 'I can't accept that.'"
For his part, Daniels told ET that he simply gave the actress a straight answer.
"Maybe she could construe it that way," Daniels said. "What I told her was, she asked me, 'Why haven't I worked?' And I said, 'You pissed a lot of people off. You know, you were making demands.'"
"But I'm her friend and I love her and I want to work her, you know what I mean?" he added. "I want to work with her again. I keep it real all the time. She asked a question, I answered the question. Maybe something will come along. Hopefully something will come along -- I mean, she was fabulous in [Precious], wasn't she?"
In April 2015, Mo'Nique told ET that the real reason she didn't work in Hollywood for nearly four years after her Oscar win was because the powers that be weren't playing fair.
"It's simply because if we continue to take those low offers, if we continue to accept the treatment, that award means absolutely nothing," Mo'Nique said.
She also claimed that Daniels cut her out of two of his biggest projects. She claimed that she was offered the role of Gloria in The Butler before it went to Oprah Winfrey and that she had emails showing that she was originally offered the part of Cookie in Empire.
Mo'Nique and Lee Daniels on the set of 'The Deliverance'
That was all put behind them when they reunited in 2022.
"I am so sorry for hurting you in any way that I did. She was my best friend, my best friend. Y'all think that Precious was just— that was God working, through both of us. And we're going to f--king do it again!" Daniels told Mo'Nique during her Mo'Nique and Friends: April Fools Day With the Queen of Comedy show, according to People.
The two then exchanged "I love you"s as the audience cheered.
Both stars took to Instagram after their reunion to share the same photo of themselves embracing. "NO CAPTION NEEDED I LOVE US 4REAL," Mo'Nique captioned her post. Daniels included an extra photo of the two hugging backstage and wrote, "[heart emoji] no caption needed @therealmoworldwide."
The Deliverance premieres in select theaters Aug. 16, and will be available to stream on Netflix Aug. 30.
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