The trailer for James McAvoy’s feature directorial debut, California Schemin’, has been released, and The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively premiere it.
From Bob Yari’s Magenta Light Studios, the film is set in the late ’90s and follows aspiring Scottish rappers Gavin Bain (Séamus McLean Ross) and Billy Boyd (Samuel Bottomley), who con their way into the American hip-hop scene by pretending to be from California. In the trailer, record label boss Anthony Reed (McAvoy) is convinced by their scheme, telling the duo, “We would like to sign you. You’re the next D12, the next Eminem.”
California Schemin’ is based on Bain’s autobiography, California Schemin’, which was later reissued as Straight Outta Scotland. The story was also the subject of the 2013 SXSW documentary The Great Hip Hop Hoax.
Here is the film’s official logline: “Inspired by a real-life story rooted in both early-2000s hip hop culture and McAvoy’s native Scotland. The film follows Silibil N’ Brains — two aspiring Scottish rappers who, after being mocked for their accents, rebranded themselves as Californian emcees and duped their way into a record deal with Sony. Suddenly, they were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Eminem and D12, scoring MTV airplay and fat advances — until their American dream began to unravel.”
Additional stars include Lucy Halliday (The Testaments), Samuel Bottomley (the upcoming Peaky Blinders sequel series), Séamus McLean Ross (Outlander: Blood of My Blood) and Rebekah Murrell (Pirates).
For McAvoy, California Schemin’ marks his directorial debut after a three-decade acting career. The BAFTA winner made his film debut in 1995’s The Near Room and has since starred in Atonement; Filth; The Last King of Scotland; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Split, Speak No Evil; and the X-Men films.
“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,” McAvoy said in a statement to THR. “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’ premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. In THR’s review of the film, Michael Rechtshaffen praised McAvoy’s work behind the camera, calling it “a nimbly paced yarn that may not have set out to reinvent the wheel, but makes for a buoyant excursion nonetheless.”
The film is written by Elaine Gracie and Archie Thomson. Producers include Danny Page, Paul Aniello, Simon Kay and Michael Mendelsohn.
California Schemin’ is set to hit theaters Oct. 9.
See the film’s official poster below.
California Schemin’ poster
Courtesy of Magenta Light Studios