Who should direct James Brown's bio-pic?
bassie
11,710 Posts
" Spike Lee will no longer be the writer and director of the highly anticipated James Brown bio-pic. The famed director was fired by producer Brian Grazer who originally hired Lee for the film shortly after Brown???s death in 2006.
Eddie Murphy, who was cast by Lee to play Brown, once told BlackTree TV that the script was a ???great, great piece.???
However, Glazer decided to fire Lee and hired Tate Taylor. Taylor was the director of the film The Help.
Although the movie was critically-acclaimed, it lacked in story structure and failed to give a complete view of black life during that era. Essentially, it was a black story told from a white person???s point of view.
Before The Help, Tate only directed the lackluster film Pretty Ugly People.
His credentials are not adequate for a film as enormous as James Brown.
Lee has also directed a few duds. However, he???s mostly known for being the man behind American classics such as Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X.
Glazer???s decision to fire Lee and hire Tate proves that Hollywood continues to be a racially divided industry. Black filmmakers will only get an opportunity to tell their stories when wealthy blacks make a point to invest in the business by opening more production studios. "
http://rollingout.com/entertainment/spike-lee-fired-from-james-brown-movie-as-white-director-takes-over/#.UIgYyUkaYZ4.facebook
Eddie Murphy, who was cast by Lee to play Brown, once told BlackTree TV that the script was a ???great, great piece.???
However, Glazer decided to fire Lee and hired Tate Taylor. Taylor was the director of the film The Help.
Although the movie was critically-acclaimed, it lacked in story structure and failed to give a complete view of black life during that era. Essentially, it was a black story told from a white person???s point of view.
Before The Help, Tate only directed the lackluster film Pretty Ugly People.
His credentials are not adequate for a film as enormous as James Brown.
Lee has also directed a few duds. However, he???s mostly known for being the man behind American classics such as Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X.
Glazer???s decision to fire Lee and hire Tate proves that Hollywood continues to be a racially divided industry. Black filmmakers will only get an opportunity to tell their stories when wealthy blacks make a point to invest in the business by opening more production studios. "
http://rollingout.com/entertainment/spike-lee-fired-from-james-brown-movie-as-white-director-takes-over/#.UIgYyUkaYZ4.facebook
Comments
Tho, maybe thats part of the reason he shouldn't do it. He's already did a great jobs playing a singer.
i rest my case
There is no group of creative minds that can encapsulate the beauty and filth that is required to portray that pioneer's life.
...and that is exactly why I hate most biopics...because they all seem to be made with that mantra in mind.
Getting everything right should be the ultimate goal. A "biographical motion picture" should absolutely be about getting everything right. Dude's life (like virtually all lives) doesn't fit conveniently into the accepted formula that is the 3 hour boiled down biopic...
I know this is a stogy, cranky and thread jacky point to take, but I'd be way more interested in Ken Burns doing a doc on The James Brown epic.
All that being said...I know it's my own fault for clicking into a biopic thread; knowing full well that I think biopics are entirely unnecessary.
The story begins with him shining shoes on the steps of Augusta GA's most opulent office building.
Follows him through reform school and his deep religious conversion.
Then Please, Please, Please 5 years of struggle and hardship before Try Me hits.
Epic fights with Syd Nathan (played by Billy Crystal).
Success.
The movie ends with JB buying the building where he once shined shoes.
Tyler Perry plays a kindly old lady who appears mysteriously whenever James has a moment of doubt.
I cant really think of a Black Actor who comes close to resembling JB and has that gutbucket vibe.
My feeling on these things is always to find an unknown who's right for the part.
Especially in this case, because people who look like JB/have that gutbucket vibe just don't become famous these days.
But ultimately I agree with Frank. Biopics basically suck and I'm sure this one would just make me mad in the unlikely event that I did go see it.