Boots Riley’s “I Love Boosters” is slated for a May 22, 2026 release via NEON and will open the 40th SXSW Film Festival on March 12. Since the premiere is just eight days away, promotion has kicked off for “I Love Boosters,” including a splashy Variety profile of its star, Keke Palmer, and comments from NEON chief Tom Quinn.
Quinn is reluctant to make firm predictions about how “I Love Boosters” will be received. Still, it appears that NEON may be looking to replicate the strategy A24 used with “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” positioning SXSW as a launching pad for awards buzz.
We have high ambition. I think it’s going to be a film that plays throughout the year, not just in its first window this summer
To further raise expectations, “I Love Boosters” reportedly cost roughly $20M, making it the most expensive film NEON has ever produced—and arguably the riskiest in the company’s history. NEON has largely been known for backing a number of low-budget films by Osgood Perkins and, more importantly, for acquiring titles at Cannes—two of which went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture (“Parasite” and “Anora”). “I Love Boosters” is a homegrown production, and Quinn believes it “could change Neon’s trajectory as a studio.”
Some expected Riley to premiere the film at Sundance or even Cannes rather than SXSW, but SXSW is where it will debut. Whether that gamble pays off remains to be seen.
Riley first made waves with his 2018 debut “Sorry to Bother You,” a madcap critique of corporate America that marked him as a filmmaker to watch. Seven years later, he has finally delivered a follow-up.
“I Love Boosters” stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, along with Demi Moore and LaKeith Stanfield. The story centers on a ring of female shoplifters known as the Velvet Gang, led by Corvette. They survive by “boosting” clothing from department stores. Their next target, however, is the CEO of a designer brand who has stolen Corvette’s idea—prompting her to seek payback and inadvertently ignite a “revolution.”
Since “Sorry to Bother You,” Riley also created the acclaimed 2023 Amazon series “I Am Virgo,” which premiered at SXSW and similarly showcased his surreal style and pointed social commentary.
So there's a script. That's something. It looks as though “The Movie Critic” really is dead and buried, and that this is a brand-new project, and title, but the premise is unknown.