Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which also happens to be Chadwick Boseman’s last film, has released its first trailer
The film is based on August Wilson’s award-winning play of the same name and tells the story of trailblazing blues artist Ma Rainey, played by Viola Davis. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom takes place in 1927 Chicago and the musicians deal with race, music, relationships, and Black recording artists being exploited.
Boseman played Ma’s band member Levee, a trumpeter who strives to find his own place in the Chicago music scene by giving old-fashioned songs a contemporary spin.
George C. Wolfe, who won Tony Awards for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, helmed the film. Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts are also in the cast. Todd Black, Denzel Washington, and Dany Wolf produced the film with Ruben Santiago-Hudson screenwriting it.
The late Boseman was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016, which progressed to stage 4. During much of his film career, he worked through his treatment and he never spoke publicly about his diagnosis.
There are talks that Boseman may be the first actor to be nominated for two posthumous Oscar actor nods—one for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the other for Da 5 Bloods.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is set for a December 18 release date on Netflix. Watch the trailer below.
