S. Samuel
During the New York City premiere of the comedy Black Dynamite, which stars Michael Jai White and Tommy Davidson the film's director spoke on the motivation behind the film.
According to director Scott Sanders, the 1970’s-based spoof was an idea he coincidentally crafted from White.
“No one had done a film on blaxploitation and then Michael took a picture of himself in this exact outfit with nunchucks and that’s the first thing I saw,” Sanders explained at the film’s screening. “That kinda started it all. It just hit me, nobody’s ever made a 1970s blaxploitation movie years after the fact. So it was just interesting to revisit it knowing how, given 30, 40 years later like how the world has revolved. Like the comedy of what they thought was gonna happen and how it actually turned out. Like going into the future, in the 1970s people thought in the 1990s we would have hovering cars. Well you go backwards and it’s kinda the same thing like they had an expectation about certain things.” (SOHH)
White was also in attendance and explained how he was able to snag cameos from entertainers like Brian McKnight and Arsenio Hall.
“Well, you know a lot of these people came from the gym,” White jokingly said referring to the cast’s athletic shapes. “[laughs] Lucikly enough, I was blessed to work with a lot of my friends and I called a lot of them in for favors and they turned out for me and I’m incredibly thankful for them doing that. Theyr’e really talented people and Scott as well, he called some of his friends in and they gave incredible performances. It was just friends from start to finish.” (SOHH)
The film features a variety of comedians and renowned movie stars.
Black Dynamite casting includes Michael Jai White, Arsenio Hall, Tommy Davidson, Kevin Chapman, Buddy Lewis, Jason Jack Edwards, Andray Johnson, Phil Morris, Lauren Mary Kim, John Salley, Mike Starr, Nicole Sullivan, Nakie Syvonne, Roger Yuan, Cedric Yarbrough and more. (IMDb)
A brief synopsis of the movie’s plot has already landed online.
Black Dynamite is the baddest cat to ever hit town. He puts his finger in the ground and turns the whole world around. This ex-CIA commando rules the streets with a 44-Magnum in one hand and nunchucks in the other. With his soul brother brand of Kung Fu, he strikes fear into the hearts of suckers and chumps on both sides of the law, and with his super cool style, keeps the ladies begging for more. When Black Dynamite’s brother Jimmy is mysteriously killed, the CIA calls Black Dynamite back into action. Tracing a bullet casing left at the scene of the crime, Black Dynamite finds himself battling pool hall thugs, pimps, pushers, and monsters. (IGN Movies)
Black Dynamite explodes into theaters nationwide Friday, October 16th.
Check out a trailer for the upcoming film below:
