Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman Starring in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ for Netflix (trailer)

[Bigbigguy]

Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman will star in the movie adaptation of the play “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” for Netflix.

George C. Wolfe (“Lackawanna Blues”) will direct from a script by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, based on the award-winning play by August Wilson. Other cast include Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) and Michael Potts.

Denzel Washington is producing with Todd Black and Dany Wolf. Constanza Romero is executive producing. Academy Award winner Ann Roth is the costume designer and Branford Marsalis has been signed as the composer.

The story centers on Ma Rainey, the pioneering “Queen of the Blues,” during the time she is making a record in a studio in Chicago in 1927 with tensions boiling between her, her white agent and producer and her bandmates. The play won the 1985 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play.

Netflix announced the project on Wednesday. Filming will commence next month in Pittsburgh.

Washington and Davis starred in the 2010 revival of Wilson’s “Fences” on Broadway and both won Tony Awards for their roles. In 2016, Washington directed and starred alongside Davis in the film adaptation of “Fences.” Davis won an Academy Award for her performance.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” opened at Broadway’s Cort Theatre in 1984 with Theresa Merritt in the title role. The remainder of the company featured John Carpenter, Lou Criscuolo, Scott Davenport-Richards, Charles S. Dutton, Leonard Jackson, Robert Judd, Christopher Loomis, Aleta Mitchell and Joe Senaca.

Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman Starring in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ for Netflix

 

[mr x]

 

[Big Boss]

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

From another board

Netflix screened this last month in Atlanta. Just heard from a friend who got to go and she told me Viola is even better than she was in Fences. She said the audience didn’t move for 5 minutes after the *spoiler* . Gave it an A+ and she’s a frequent movie-goer for what it’s worth.

 

[BXKingPin82]

Damn.

So this aint Players Club 2?

 

[mr x]

Didnt realize denzel has a deal to produce all 10 Wilson plays.

 

[Somebody]

Read this in school. Good read

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

@IllmaticDelta
This movie should be interesting

 

[IllmaticDelta]

 

[Neuromancer]

Is Chadwick sick?

 

[Red Shield]

Is Chadwick sick?

nah think he just lost weight for Spike's flick

 

[Neuromancer]

nah think he just lost weight for Spike's flick

Oh.

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

I had this synopsis pasted ready to post before getting the news.


"Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey (Academy Award® winner Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio's claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) - who has an eye for Ma's girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry - spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories, truths and lies that will forever change the course of their lives.

Adapted from two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's play, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM celebrates the transformative power of the blues and the artists who refuse to let society's prejudices dictate their worth. Directed by George C. Wolfe and adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, the film is produced by Fences Oscar® nominees Denzel Washington and Todd Black. Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige and Dusan Brown co-star alongside Grammy® winner Branford Marsalis' score."

 

[Norrin Radd]

Is Chadwick sick?

 

[patscorpio]

looks like this will be his swan song