James McAvoy makes his directorial debut with California Schemin’, an R-rated musical biopic about the rap duo Silibil N’ Brains, adapted from Gavin Bain’s memoir. The trailer focuses on the duo and hints at the dysfunction to come as they attempt to make a name for themselves while hiding their real backgrounds.
McAvoy also stars along with Seamus McLean Ross, Samuel Bottomley, Lucy Halliday, and Rebekah Murrell.
The official synopsis reads: “Based on the improbably true story, California Schemin’ follows two aspiring Scottish MCs who devise an audacious scheme to achieve their dream of a record deal by posing as Californian hip-hop artists. As fame beckons and the lies pile up, their friendship is put to the test.”
Magenta Light Studios is releasing the film in limited theaters on October 9, 2026, followed by a wider release on October 16 and 23.
The official trailer release was accompanied by a statement from actor and filmmaker James McAvoy:
“I’ve wanted to direct since I was 16. After 30 years of working with and learning from some of the best in the business, that desire has only grown. All this gave me the opportunity to do two things I cared about as a first-time director:
1. Tell a story about people from a background like mine: lower-income, council estate kids, with talent, hopes, dreams – and a desire to transcend their limited horizons.
2. Entertain.
California Schemin’ is about two people who don’t just break through a glass ceiling, they completely ignore it and find a way around. That might sound like a straightforward success story, but if it were, I wouldn’t be telling it.
We celebrate those who dare to dream in the face of failure, who kick down closed doors with unapologetic, gallus self-belief.
For me, the heart of the story is if their friendship and sanity could survive the journey: could they stay healthy and true to themselves while adopting personas the industry deemed acceptable and forsaking the Scottish culture that made them?”
Elaine Gracie and Archie Thomson wrote the screenplay, and Danny Page, Paul Aniello, Simon Kay, and Michael Mendelsohn are the producers. Executive producers include McAvoy, Gavin Bain, Natalie Perrotta, Naysun Alae-Carew, Shahin Sobhani, Kieran Hannigan, Steven Little, Nicholas Crum, and Lauren Lamarr. Stephen Kelliher, Yana Georgieva, Mehran Yazdani, Nizam Missaghi, Alistair Wood, Stuart Daly, and Joel Michaely also executive-produced the biopic.