Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: Netflix unveils trailer for Chadwick Boseman’s final film
Netflix has unveiled the trailer for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the final film starring Chadwick Boseman.
Boseman stars as ambitious trumpeter Levee in this adaptation of the play of the same name by Pulitzer winner August Wilson, while Viola Davis portrays blues singer Ma Rainey.
“Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary ‘Mother of the Blues’ Ma Rainey,” Netflix’s synopsis reads.
“Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music.
“As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee (Boseman) — who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry — spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives.”
Boseman died of colon cancer on 28 August at the age of 43. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will feature his final performance on the silver screen.
Davis, who played Boseman’s mother in the 2014 James Brown biopic Get On Up, paid tribute to the actor on Monday during a virtual preview, stating according to Deadline: “Not to compete with Chadwick’s mother, but he was my baby. Chadwick was an artist. That is just what he was… he loved it, he demanded it in every single way. For someone so young it was incredible to watch.”
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will be released by Netflix on 18 December.
