Chadwick Boseman’s last film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with Viola Davis has been officially released on Netflix
Chadwick Boseman’s final movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom bowed on Netflix Friday.
The Black Panther lead died this August at the age of 43 after secretly struggling against colon cancer for four years.
He filmed his swan song last summer in Pittsburgh where production wrapped in August 2019, almost exactly a year before his death.
Swan song: Chadwick Boseman’s last movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom bowed on Netflix Friday
Viola Davis, who won her first Tony in 2001 long before she achieved her current star status in Hollywood, leads the movie as the real-life blues legend Ma Rainey.
Meanwhile Chadwick plays a fictional trumpeter called Levee who clashes with Ma during a recording session in Chicago in the 1920s.
Based on a play by theater legend August Wilson, the film was directed by George C. Wolfe who is best known for his work on Broadway.
Castle star Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who has also acted on Broadway multiple times, adapted the script from the original theater piece.
Final bow: The Black Panther lead died this August at the age of 43 after secretly struggling against colon cancer for four years
Throwback: He shot the film in Pittsburgh where production wrapped in August 2019, almost exactly a year before his death; he is pictured with Michael Potts and Colman Domingo
Pedigree: Based on a play by theater legend August Wilson, the film was directed by George C. Wolfe who is best known for his work on Broadway
The movie bowed in theaters the day before Thanksgiving although its release was limited amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In the weeks since it appeared in theaters the movie has gotten exultant reviews and currently holds a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Denzel Washington, who co-starred with Viola Davis in a Broadway revival and then a film of August Wilson’s play Fences, is one of the producers of the new film.
Viola won a Tony and then an Academy Award for Fences – and now both she and Chadwick are setting off Oscar buzz for her return to the playwright’s work.
Only the best: Viola Davis, who won her first Tony in 2001 long before she achieved her current star status in Hollywood, leads the movie as the real-life blues legend Ma Rainey
Who’s who: Meanwhile Chadwick plays a fictional trumpeter called Levee who clashes with Ma during a recording session in Chicago in the 1920
Pedigree: Based on a play by theater legend August Wilson, the film was directed by George C. Wolfe who is best known for his work on Broadway
If Chadwick wins an Oscar he will be the first actor to do so posthumously since Heath Ledger in 2009 for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight.
‘I broke down when I heard he passed,’ Viola shared in a Yahoo! Entertainment interview that ran the day before the film bowed on Netflix.
‘Lord knows we all would’ve wanted him to live another 50 years. We all want longevity. But I can’t see his life tragically at all…. Because I felt like he was always living in the moment, squeezing out every bit of life. What it makes me think is, it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality,’ she said.
Working together again: Denzel Washington, who co-starred with Viola Davis in a Broadway revival and then a film of August Wilson’s play Fences, is one of the producers of the new film
Dearly departed: ‘I broke down when I heard he passed,’ Viola shared in a Yahoo! Entertainment interview that ran the day before the film bowed on Netflix