New Images From “RISE” World Premiere

BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 22: (L-R) Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Alex Antetokounmpo and Giannis Antetokounmpo attend the world premiere of Rise at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

New images from tonight’s World Premiere for the Disney+ Original Movie “Rise,” which will stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning June 24, 2022.

Among those who attended the premiere held earlier this evening at the Main Theater at Walt Disney Studios, and sponsored in part by X-Box, were the film’s subjects, executive producer Giannis Antetokounmpo and his mother, Veronica “Vera” Antetokounmpo, and his brothers Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Kostas Antetokounmpo and Alex Antetokounmpo, along with “Rise” cast members Dayo Okeniyi (Charles), Yetide Badaki (Vera), Uche Agada (Giannis), Ral Agada (Thanasis), director Akin Omotoso, writer Arash Amel and producer Bernie Goldmann.

BURBANK, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 22: (L-R) Yetide Badaki, Jahleel Kamara, Elijah Sholanke, Aaron Kingsley Adetola and Dayo Okeniyi attend the world premiere of Rise at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 22: (L-R) Giannis Antetokounmpo, McColm Cephas Jr., Alex Antetokounmpo, Jahleel Kamara, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Chinua Baraka Payne attend the world premiere of Rise at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

Audiences have never seen a story like that of the Antetokounmpos. After emigrating from Nigeria to Greece, Charles and Vera Antetokounmpo (Dayo Okeniyi and Yetide Badaki, respectively) struggled to survive and provide for their five children, while living under the daily threat of deportation. With their oldest son still in Nigeria with relatives, the couple were desperate to obtain Greek citizenship but found themselves undermined by a system that blocked them at every turn. When they weren’t selling items to tourists on the streets of Athens with the rest of the family, the brothers– Giannis (Uche Agada) and Thanasis (Ral Agada)–would play basketball with a local youth team.

Latecomers to the sport discovered their great abilities on the basketball court and worked hard to become world-class athletes, along with their brother, Kostas (Jaden Osimuwa). With the help of an agent, Giannis entered the NBA Draft in 2013 as a long-shot prospect that would change not only his life but the life of his entire family. And last season, Giannis and Thanasis helped bring the Milwaukee Bucks their first championship ring in 50 years, while Kostas played for the previous season’s champs, the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Rise” stars Dayo Okeniyi, Yetide Badaki, Manish Dayal, and Taylor Nichols, introducing Ral Agada, and introducing Uche Agada. The film was directed by Akin Omotoso (“Vaya”), written by Arash Amel (“A Private War”), and produced by Bernie Goldmann (“300”). Giannis Antetokounmpo and Douglas S. Jones served as the executive producers.

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