Plot

A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.

Set on the night of February 25, 1964, "One Night in Miami" follows a young, brash Cassius Clay as he emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Center the new Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World. Against all odds, he defeated Sonny Liston and shocked the sports world. While crowds of people swarm Miami Beach to celebrate the match, Clay - unable to stay on the island because of Jim Crow-era segregation laws - spends the evening at the Hampton House Motel in Miami's African American Overtown neighborhood celebrating with three of his closest friends: Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. During this historic evening, these icons, who each were the very representation of the Pre-Black Power Movement and felt the social pressure their cross-over celebrity brought, shared their thoughts with each other about their responsibilities as influencers, standing up, defending their rights and moving the country forward to equality and empowerment for all black people. The next morning, the four men emerge determined to define a new world for themselves and their community.

In 1963, Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) nearly loses a boxing match to Henry Cooper (Sean Monaghan) at Wembley Stadium in London. Cassius was dominating the bout for 3 rounds and Henry was completely exhausted. In 4th round, Cassius is distracted by the presence of Elizabeth Taylor in the audience, allowing Henry to land some fearsome blows, nearly knocking him out. At the Copacabana in New York City, soul singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) suffers through a performance in front of a cold, all-white audience. Half the audience leaves in the middle of his performance.

Returning home to Georgia, NFL player Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) is received by family friend Mr. Carlton (Beau Bridges) on a vast plantation. Carlton ladles (Emily (Emily Bridges)) praise on "the great Jim Brown," but when Brown offers to help Carlton move some furniture, Carlton reminds Brown that "you know we don't allow African Americans in the house."

Elsewhere, Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) returns home and discusses his plans to leave the Nation of Islam with his wife, Betty (Joaquina Kalukango). Nation of Islam is led by Elijah Muhammad, who is known for his extremist views. Everything Malcolm owns belongs to the Nation of Islam, the house, the car, everything. Brother Kareem (Lance Reddick) & Jamaal (Christian Magby) are Malcolm's bodyguard.

On February 25, 1964, the men are all in Miami for Clay's title bout against Sonny Liston (Aaron D. Alexander). X meets with Clay in a hotel room before the fight, and the two pray in a traditional Islamic fashion. Clay's investors are not happy that Clay is using the money to associate with Malcolm X, who basically calls all whites as devils. That night, Brown is a ringside commentator and Cooke and Malcolm X are in the crowd as Clay upsets Liston, making him the world heavyweight champion.

Afterward, X invites the other three men to his motel room. Clay is ecstatic on being crowned the heavy weight champion of the world and he is just 22 years old. Their hopes of a party are dashed when X makes it clear they are the only ones he invited. He wants to spend some time reflecting on their accomplishments, but tension between him and Cooke arises. Clay informs the men of his plans to announce his conversion to the Nation of Islam, causing more tension. Malcolm goes out to pick a camera from his car. Meanwhile the remaining 3 talk to Jamaal to understand if it's easy being a Muslim. Malcolm calls his wife and tells her that Clay has agreed to become a Muslim and will be announcing the same the very next day.

Jim talks to Clay about becoming a movie actor full time as he got paid $37K for his last part in a western. Malcolm returns to the room. He thinks he is being watched continuously and takes the trio out to the balcony. Malcolm tells the group that he is travelling to Mecca and will be seeing the great pyramids, as part of the tour. X thinks Cooke has sold out the African American community by pandering to white audiences, and Cooke refuses to feel guilty for his success.

The conflict between X and Cooke escalates. X harshly ridicules the music Cooke has produced since finding success. X comes down hard on the idea that Cooke will "rescue" the community after he gets rich. X says that Cooke will do too much damage before that. Cooke insists his success and creative autonomy is itself an inspiration to the African American community, and while he still cares about the African American struggle in America, protest songs are not commercially viable. X confronts him with the success of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind". Cooke argues that he funded the Rolling Stones and today, every time a white person buys their album, they put money in Cooke's pockets. He has white people working for him and they don't even know it.

As they argue, it becomes clear that X's antagonism of Cooke is motivated, at least in part, by the activist's stress over his own life, especially his harassment by the FBI and fears about his schism with Elijah Muhammad (Jerome A. Wilson). Cooke alleges that X is trying to recruit Clay for Elijah and the Nation. Cooke also says that Elijah lives like a King in Chicago, in a huge mansion, while preaching and doing nothing for the African American kids in the neighborhood. Cooke is disgusted and leaves the meeting. Jim argues with X that economic freedom is the most important and supports Cooke's point of view. X is devastated to learn that Clay is having second thoughts about his conversion. He tells Clay that he is planning to form his own organization and asks him to join. Clay refuses, feeling betrayed by his mentor, and wondering if his conversion has been a ploy by X to attract attention to his new project.

A knock at the door informs them that the press has gotten wind of the meeting. As Clay prepares to talk to the media, he asks X to come with him. When they leave, Cooke tells Brown that he has had similar thoughts about "Blowing in the Wind" and has already written a song, but not yet performed it.

In the aftermath of the night, Clay officially changes his name to Muhammad Ali, while X's life is thrown into chaos as he suffers the consequences of his split with the Nation of Islam; his house is firebombed, but he completes his autobiography. Cooke debuts "A Change Is Going to Come" on The Tonight Show. Brown leaves the NFL to pursue his movie career. The film ends with a title card with a quote from X on February 19, 1965, about the inevitability of martyrs for the cause, and that he was assassinated two days later on February 21.