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SUNDANCE 2009

Sony Pictures Frantically Picks Up Black Dynamite at Sundance

by Alex Billington
January 19, 2009

Can you dig it? The second major studio purchase at the Sundance Film Festival (after Brooklyn's Finest) is none other than Black Dynamite. The film is a blaxploitation revival starring Michael Jai White as a jive fool named Black Dynamite who must save his city when the orphanages become overrun with crack. I saw the film at its world premiere last night and it was truly a blast. Following that premiere, Sony execs fought long and hard (all the way until 6AM) to close a deal for an undisclosed amount. The most important bit of this news is that Sony proper bought it, not Sony Pictures Classics, their independent arm.

The studio thinks that the franchise has the potential to become as big as Austin Powers or the Friday films. They're planning to spend a lot of money marketing it later in the year and put it out sometime in the second half of 2009. Black Dynamite already has a hell out of a lot of buzz, as we ran a trailer for it back in November than received an overwhelming positive response. It's just a badass insanely hilarious bit of blaxploitation fun. Even though I was tired, I really had a great time watching it and definitely think it has some strong potential to do well. We'll see whether this turns out to be true sometime later this year.

Filed under Indies, Movie News, Sundance 09

From around the web:

wm

This trailer was so goddamn funny, total throw back, they even got the fuckin' ugly ass clothes right. Can't wait. The actual look of the film looks 70's. Perfect.
http://www.entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com

Thats a no brainer for $2 million. If the film is as good as the trailer this will pull in $30 to $40 million easy as long as it gets a strong marketing push! chuck
Bucker

oh man, i saw the name and the picture, and had flashbacks of Urkel.......i almost wonder if it would be better if it was
Tom Dearsley

I have a sudden urge to watch I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and Dolomite
Stylist Mick

Sony tends to dump a lot of their Sundance purchases. Time will tell on this jive punching piece of blackawesomeness.
Spider

Groovy!
Black Guy

The potential for this is ridiculous. Both negatively and positively. Sony has to create some really smart ads and in as many markets as possible, but without losing the focus of the film.
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

Awesome.
http://slashfilm.com Thomas

Both me and my brother thinks this looks f#cking awesome.
DavidFTF5

Seen it. Its a riot. To be nitpicky the action could have been more diverse and memorable.Salli Richardson though lovely to look at is horribly cast .She lacks the soul and the raw animal sexuality of the Pam Grier era Badass heroine.The music is superb and the look of the film is dead on.There are LOL moments.Its a modest triumph. A film that satirizes while paying homage to the genre but doesnt inject enough freshness and innovation to transcend it. Thats my word SUCKA!