Of all the films coming out this over the course of the summer, Dope is easily one of my most anticipated. Following a trio of nerdy, ’90s hip-hop obsessed high schoolers growing up in a tough Los Angeles neighborhood, Dope was widely praised at Sundance, and distributor Open Road seems quite confident in Rick Famuyiwa‘s coming-of-age comedy-drama, which ups my interest even more.
The studio is devoting quite a bit of attention to the film, releasing numerous trailers and clips online, as well as several TV spots to try to ramp up anticipation ahead of Dope‘s wide release on June 19. Now Open Road has debuted character posters for the film’s main players, including Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, Tony Revolori, Zoe Kravitz, A$AP Rocky, Chanel Iman and Blake Anderson, all of which you can check out below (via Fandango).
I personally think they’re pretty cool, I’m going to be seeing this one anyways but hopefully they’ll help draw a few more people into theaters to see what the film is all about. With character posters like these audiences might think they’re about to see a Marvel-style big-time summer blockbuster, but hey, whatever brings ’em in right?
One of the biggest draws for me here though is the music, and on top of the character posters comes news on the movie’s soundtrack, which has been curated by Pharrell Williams, who served as an executive producer for the film. The fifteen-track album will be released June 16 and features an assortment of rap classics and other ’90s hip-hop gems, as well as a few tracks by Awreeoh, the punk band formed in the film by Moore, Clemons and Revolori. Check out the soundtrack listing below.
- “Rebirth of Slick” by Digable Planets
- “Can’t Bring Me Down” by Awreeoh
- “The World Is Yours” by Nas
- “Go Head” by Awreeoh
- “Rebel Without A Pause” by Public Enemy
- “Don’t Get Deleted” by Awreeoh
- “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest
- “Cocaina Shawty” by Kap G
- “Poppin’ Off” by Watch The Duck
- “The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground
- “New Money” by Buddy
- “Hip Hop Hooray” by Naughty By Nature
- “Dirty Feeling” by LolaWolf
- “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” by Gil Scott-Herron
- “It’s My Turn Now” by Awreeoh
Looks good to me, with a little Nas and some Public Enemy and then a smattering of stuff I’ve heard and some I haven’t. I love exploring new music, even if that “new” music is actually a bit older, so I’m excited to give some of these tracks a listen. With that out of the way, go ahead and check out the character posters below and let us know what you think about Dope, are you excited to see it come June 19?
Check out the rest of the character posters on the next page.
