The response to Fruitvale at this year's Sundance Film Festival blew me away, and I don't surprise easily. The film won both the Dramatic Grand Jury and Audience awards, while in the process making an instant star out of Michael B. Jordan, who some are already looking at as a future Oscar-winner. The Weinstein's won a fierce bidding war to secure the rights, ponying up substantial $2M sum. For that amount, they're going to give the film a big push, and it's already beginning with the release of a new poster.
Smartly putting Jordan and its awards accolades front and center, the image is likely to be the first many are seeing from acclaimed film. Marking the directorial debut by Ryan Coogler, the film tells the tragic true story of 22-year old Oscar Grant, who under restraint by a pair of BART officers at the Fruitvale subway station when one murdered him in cold blood. The film also stars Melonie Diaz, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray, Octavia Spencer, and Ahna O'Reilly, with Forest Whitaker as a producer.
Hopefully this means a new trailer cut is on the way. Expect Fruitvale to be a major player in next year's Academy Awards. [Blackfilm]
