Universal International has premiered a new international trailer for the upcoming James Brown biopic Get On Up featuring Chadwick Boseman (42) in the lead role under the direction of Tate Taylor (The Help).
I’ve seen many people that have watched the trailer say it looks a little too glossy and Boseman looking a little too refined to play the late musical icon. I’m not sure how much that really matters considering I don’t think any of us are really going to this movie looking for a history lesson. After all, with movies such as this isn’t it just as much about capturing the audience’s attention with the story as it is getting them to like music they may otherwise never listen to?
I’ve always found one of the best things a movie like this can do is get people’s toes tapping and reminding them how good the music was/is because if you can hook them with the music, you’ve got them for the duration and Brown has more than enough songs to energize an audience, not to mention a flamboyant, over-the-top personality. The big question, I guess, is just how raw and real will the story get? We’ll see when the film hits theaters domestically on August 1.
Now here’s that trailer, a new poster and an all-time classic James Brown impersonation from Eddie Murphy‘s “Delirious“. You know, back when Murphy was actually funny.
