Harriet | Nov 1 2019 | Focus Features | Cynthia Erivo

[NickDisney13]

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/cynthia-erivo-harriet-tubman-movie-focus-1202941145/

Quote

 

Focus Features has come on board “Harriet,” a feature film chronicling the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman with Tony Award-winner Cynthia Erivo in the lead.

 

“Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Jennifer Nettles, and Clarke Peters are also starring. Kasi Lemmons (“Eve’s Bayou”) will direct a screenplay she co-wrote with Gregory Allen Howard.

 

Focus announced Thursday that production will start in October in Virginia. Producers are Debra Martin Chase with Martin Chase Productions, Daniela Taplin Lundberg with Stay Gold Features, and Howard. Cinematographer John Toll, won back-to-back Oscars for “Legends of the Fall” and “Braveheart,” is also on board. Josh McLaughlin will oversee the production.

 

“Harriet” follows Tubman on her 1849 escape from slavery and subsequent missions to free dozens of slaves through the Underground Railroad in the face of growing pre-Civil War adversity.

 

 

[Deja23]

EXCLU: @JanelleMonae joins Focus' Harriet Tubman biopic and is also on board to star in STX's animated pic UGLYDOLLS https://t.co/DDFz0u1CUg

— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) October 2, 2018

[Eric Olsen]

@aabattery

[Eric Olsen]

 

[SLAM!]

6 hours ago, CoolEric258 said:

 

 

She gives off a real Harriet Tubman vibe in these stills. I'm excited. Hopefully this is a rousing success!

[Jake Gittes]

Haven't seen anything Lemmons made since then but Eve's Bayou is a really good, original, slept-on movie. Good to see her behind the camera again, hope the result is more than what you'd expect a standard Focus Features movie with this logline to be like.

[movies!movies!]

Release Date is November 1, 2019

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=harriet.htm

[dudalb]

Let's hope they actually stick to the history of Harriet Tubman;what really happened is much more dramatic and interesting them any made up crap Hollywood could come up with.

[CoolioD1]

55 minutes ago, dudalb said:

Let's hope they actually stick to the history of Harriet Tubman;what really happened is much more dramatic and interesting them any made up crap Hollywood could come up with.

agreed. but it's weird on the cast list it doesn't say who's playing the Transformers that helped her.

[filmlover]

Erivo is coming for that Oscar.

[Eric Olsen]

@DeeCee @aabattery @grim22 main thread pls

[Nas]

Quote

Looks like we are getting quite the onslaught of trailers in time for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which releases in the U.S. next week. Along with the first look at A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, we are about to get the trailer for Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet. The new footage has been rated today by Consumer Protection BC and we expect it online in the coming days – stay tuned for more as always!

 

https://trailer-track.com/2019/07/18/in-the-pipeline-first-trailer-for-harriet-tubman-biopic-harriet-on-the-way/

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

 

[SLAM!]

39 minutes ago, BoxOfficeFangrl said:

 

 

It seems to strattle the line between theatrical movie and TV movie, but is pushed over the edge by great performances and a sincerity in how it is presented.

 

It's not a myth that Harriet Tubman carried a pistol with her. She carried it not only for protection against opponents, but to provide assurance to the people she was rescuing. She also carried a rifle during the civil war. I had never entertained the thought of her wielding guns before now, so kudos to the film for helping me learn something.

 

Here is my source:

 

http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/harriet-tubman-myths-and-facts.html

 

I'm fairly excited for this film, but I have a gut feeling that some critics will call the film weak-sauce, and it may just get compared to Oscar-bait such as Darkest Hour, Lion, and The Post. I do hope that isn't the case and I think I'm going to want to see it in theaters either which way the coin lands.

Edited July 23, 2019 by SLAM!

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

1 hour ago, SLAM! said:

 

It seems to strattle the line between theatrical movie and TV movie, but is pushed over the edge by great performances and a sincerity in how it is presented.

 

It's not a myth that Harriet Tubman carried a pistol with her. She carried it not only for protection against opponents, but to provide assurance to the people she was rescuing. She also carried a rifle during the civil war. I had never entertained the thought of her wielding guns before now, so kudos to the film for helping me learn something.

 

Here is my source:

 

http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/harriet-tubman-myths-and-facts.html

 

I'm fairly excited for this film, but I have a gut feeling that some critics will call the film weak-sauce, and it may just get compared to Oscar-bait such as Darkest Hour, Lion, and The Post. I do hope that isn't the case and I think I'm going to want to see it in theaters either which way the coin lands.

The music in the trailer was the one real negative for me, but I guess just going the Spiritual route would be its own cliche. Tubman's story is amazing and I hope this movie does it justice.

 

You never know with awards season but I can't imagine this being compared to Darkest Hour? They both feature an "underground" I guess, but I think Harriet will get measured against things like 12 Years a Slave or maybe  Django Unchained, other relatively recent awards hopefuls about American slavery.

 

I don't think awards voters will ultimately care, but there will be people upset Harriet Tubman's being played by someone who isn't American. There was already some of that back when Cynthia Erivo's casting was announced. She is also really...aware of her awards tally, and an Oscar win would make her an EGOT, so she might be a lot on the campaign trail this season. 

[Ororo Munroe]

Count me as one of those who is not happy with Cynthia as Harriet. I lost interest in this the minute she was cast. 

 

As for the trailer, that few seconds of Janelle were more interesting than anything I saw from Cynthia.

 

Taking my personal feelings out of it though, Cynthia may be overshadowed by the Oscar push for Lupita and maybe even Alfre Woodard. The latter got a lot of buzz for Clemency which premiered at Sundance. I don't see the Academy nominating 3 black actresses in the lead actress category. 

Edited July 23, 2019 by Ororo Munroe

[SLAM!]

2 hours ago, Ororo Munroe said:

Count me as one of those who is not happy with Cynthia as Harriet. I lost interest in this the minute she was cast. 

 

As for the trailer, that few seconds of Janelle were more interesting than anything I saw from Cynthia.

 

Taking my personal feelings out of it though, Cynthia may be overshadowed by the Oscar push for Lupita and maybe even Alfre Woodard. The latter got a lot of buzz for Clemency which premiered at Sundance. I don't see the Academy nominating 3 black actresses in the lead actress category. 

 

I want Alfre Woodard to be a nominee very much. She has a heckuva narrative, too: it'd be her first nomination since the 80s, and it would express the shift away from the kind of African American starring prestige films from that time period towards the more inclusive minority-led films of today.

 

Of course, the Academy nominating all three would be beautiful. Though I'd take two of them plus Awkwafina, too.

Edited July 23, 2019 by SLAM!

[Ororo Munroe]

32 minutes ago, SLAM! said:

 

I want Alfre Woodard to be a nominee very much. She has a heckuva narrative, too: it'd be her first nomination since the 80s, and it would express the shift away from the kind of African American starring in prestige films from that time period towards the more inclusive minority-led films of today.

 

Of course, the Academy nominating all three would be beautiful. Though I'd take two of them plus Awkwafina, too.

Yeah, I think that's what may give Alfre an edge. I'm certainly rooting for her more than any other actress this season. 

[ban1o]

Harriet is an icon though. I think it's more than just a period film. 

[Ororo Munroe]

Yes and that's what will get Cynthia into the conversation. And certainly the Academy does favor movies like this so I'm not ruling her out. Still, I think she's going to have to give a memorable perfomance and/or the film will have to receive rave reviews for her to get some real traction. This trailer isn't nearly convincing enough for me but we will see what happens. 

Edited July 23, 2019 by Ororo Munroe