We bring you the facts about the new James Brown biopic…
GET ON UP is a new biopic based on the life story of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Here are ten things worth knowing about the movie and the legend that was James Brown.
1. GET ON UP
The title of the movie comes from the famous lyric found in Brown’s 1970 track ‘Sex Machine’, it was one of the first songs he record with his band The J.B.’s. The song was a no 2 R&B hit and reached no 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone magazine rated it number 326 on their list of the top 500 songs of all time.
2. Chadwick Boseman
James Brown is played by Chadwick Boseman who actually sang a large number of songs in the movie rather than miming them. This month it was revealed that Chadwick will play Marvel’s BLACK PANTHER, the first black superhero to appear in a mainstream comic book franchise. He will appear in the next CAPTAIN AMERICA’ movie before getting his own movie in 2017.
3. Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones singer worked for years producing the movie. Mick Jagger is no stranger to Hollywood, his music has appeared in 380 different movies and TV shows over the years. As well as GET ON UP Jagger produced a documentary film about James Brown titled MR DYNAMITE; JAMES BROWN AND THE POWER OF SOUL.
4. How to be James Brown
As well as producing the movie, Mick Jagger trained Chadwick Boseman to be more like James Brown; teaching him the art of musical performance, the psychology of being a front-man, how to conduct a band and his relationship with the audience.
5. Hair Play
To play James Brown, Chadwick Boseman wore 30 different wigs for the film “Oh, the wigs were fun to wear” joked Boseman, “His hair was always changing, almost daily. It was crazy.”
6. The Eddie Murphy Connection
Back in the mid-2000’s comedian Eddie Murphy was lined up to play James Brown in a movie which sadly never got made, the BEVERLY HILLS COP actor revealed that James Brown once asked ‘If they ever do my life, you got to play my story’ but Murphy thought he was too old for the role saying “I’ll be 46 in April and I’m not doin’ no splits and no s**t like that, and rippin’ my a** out tryin’ to make no movie. The split days are gone.”
7. James Brown – Movie Man
As well as being a famous singer James turned up in a number of movie projects, the most famous of which were THE BLUES BROTHERS, ROCKY IV, HOLY MAN and THE TUXEDO.
8. Tate Taylor
The movie is directed by Tate Taylor who was looking for a project to follow up his 2012 Oscar nominated movie THE HELP. Speaking about the challenge Tate explained “I love a character with tons of story, spectacle and history, and that was really hard to find”.
9. James Brown’s musical legacy
Brown had 96 singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100. 17 of his singles hit number-one on the R&B chart including ‘It’s a man’s man’s man’s world’ ‘I got the feelin’, ‘Super Bad’, ‘Give it up or turn it a loose’, ‘Say it Loud’, ‘Cold Sweat’, ‘I Got You’, ‘Papas Got A Brand New Bag’, ‘Hot Pants’, ‘Get On The Good Foot’ and ‘Make It Funky’.
10. When Can I See It?
GET ON UP is at Irish cinemas from November 21st, 2014