Netflix has released an official trailer for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on the play of the same name by August Wilson. It stars Viola Davis, and Chadwick Boseman in his final film role prior to his death.
Alright, this looks like an awards contender. Davis and Boseman both look phenomenal in their roles, and I wouldn’t be surprised if both of them received Oscar nominations. Boseman left us too soon, but he gave it his all in every performance and that shows in the above trailer.
I’m not familiar with the works of August Wilson, but I remember that Denzel Washington directed Fences, a 2016 adaptation of the Wilson play of the same name. It looks like Washington has a major deal to develop Wilson’s plays and that’s now set up at Netflix. It looks like we can expect more of Wilson’s works to hit Netflix over the next few years. Fingers crossed Washington will step back behind the camera for one of them.
Plot Synopsis:
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 revealing truths 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.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom hits select theaters in November before it begins streaming December 18, 2020 on Netflix.
What do you guys think? Interested in seeing this at all?
