There’s no banking with Apple’s first major Apple TV+ film. The Banker, which was scheduled to debut at the AFI Fest, was canceled due to “some concerns surrounding the film,” according to Business Insider.
The Samuel L. Jackson/Anthony Mackie film, The Banker was originally scheduled to be the closing film of the 2019 AFI Festival in Los Angeles, but the screening was canceled abruptly on Wednesday afternoon. Apple never disclosed the exact reasoning for doing so but did release a statement that “Last week some concerns surrounding the film were brought to our attention. We, along with the filmmakers, need some time to look into these matters and determine the best next steps. In light of this, we are no longer premiering ‘The Banker’ at AFI Fest.”
According to Apple TV+, “Based on a true story, The Banker centers on revolutionary businessmen Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie) and Joe Morris (Samuel L. Jackson), who devise an audacious and risky plan to take on the racially oppressive establishment of the 1960s by helping other African Americans pursue the American dream. Along with Garrett’s wife Eunice (Nia Long), they train a working-class white man, Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hoult), to pose as the rich and privileged face of their burgeoning real estate and banking empire—while Garrett and Morris pose as a janitor and a chauffeur. Their success ultimately draws the attention of the federal government, which threatens everything the four have built.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Garrett Jr.’s half-sisters, roughly 15 years his junior, have recently made Apple aware of their claim that when he was a young man living in their home, he sexually molested them over the course of a few years. The sisters made the claim in connection with separate allegations that the timeline of the film was tweaked in order to leave the girls and their mother out of the story and instead feature Bernard Garrett Sr.’s first wife, even though he had already divorced her by the time of some of the events depicted in the film.”
Cynthia Garrett, sister of Bernard Garrett Jr., posted this via Twitter, “THE BANKER Trailer (2019) Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie Movie https://youtu.be/Mg3dnCJtOEY via @YouTube. LIES TO HIDE THE PRODUCER WHO SEXUALLY MOLESTED MY SISTER AND I FOR YEARS THEN STOLE MY MOMS LIFE STORY WITH OUR DAD. WOW!!!!! #TIMESUP. THIS FAMILY WILL NOT REMAIN SILENT!”