KING IVORY Unleashes Official Trailer and Poster Ahead of Nationwide Release

Ben Foster, Melissa Leo, and James Badge Dale star in King Ivory, a raw new thriller confronting the fentanyl crisis, in theaters November 14.

Lionsgate has dropped the official trailer and poster for King Ivory, the gritty new thriller from writer-director John Swab (Candy Land, Ida Red), diving headfirst into America’s deadly fentanyl epidemic. The film hits theaters nationwide on Friday, November 14th.

Fresh off its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it earned the Smithers Foundation Award, and its U.S. premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival as a Centerpiece selection, King Ivory is shaping up to be one of the most hard-hitting crime dramas of the year.

From the streets to the system, King Ivory explores the epidemic from every level of society—civilians, criminals, addicts, and law enforcement—all colliding in a brutal and all-too-real look at America’s addiction crisis.

At the center of the story is Tulsa narcotics detective Layne West (James Badge Dale), whose fight against the city’s fentanyl surge becomes personal when his son, Jack (Jasper Jones), falls victim to addiction. Joined by his partner Ty (George Carroll) and FBI agent Beatty (Rory Cochrane), West launches a relentless pursuit of those responsible.

The film’s sprawling network of characters includes Ben Foster as Irish Mob enforcer George “Smiley” Greene, Melissa Leo as his calculating mother Ginger, and Michael Mando as Ramón Garza, the local cartel shot-caller. Graham Greene appears as imprisoned war chief Holt Lightfeather, whose chilling line defines the film’s heart:

“The cartels want your kids, the next generation, who want what is new—and fentanyl is new.”

Unflinching and urgent, King Ivory delivers a raw depiction of the modern drug war—where profit, pain, and power blur into one devastating cycle.

King Ivory opens November 14th, only in theaters.