{"id":128536,"date":"2019-01-18T16:20:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T21:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/?p=128536"},"modified":"2019-01-22T15:07:13","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T20:07:13","slug":"50-plus-2019-films-produced-directed-by-or-featuring-black-talent-in-prominent-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/50-plus-2019-films-produced-directed-by-or-featuring-black-talent-in-prominent-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Plus 2019 Films Produced, Directed By Or Featuring Black Talent In Prominent Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With 2019 already in effect, it\u2019s not too late to start looking at some of the films that are slated to hit theaters that feature Black talent in prominent roles (in front of or behind the screen). 2018 is considered the best year in Black cinema with the amount of the films that hit theaters, films that were critically acclaimed and films that did well at the box office. We also had a record 5 films directed by Black talent that hit over $100M domestically at the box office.<\/p>\n

What’s still lacking is the number of Black females in prominent lead roles for studio films. While there were a great deal of Black actresses that had lead roles, a majority of them were for films that opened in limited release or films that played at festivals and waiting to be picked up for distribution. We also had fewer Black female directors who had films in theaters than the year before (2017) when a record 6 theatrical films were helmed by Black women.<\/p>\n

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Those stats should change this year with Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o as the lead in Jordan Peele’s Us, Tika Sumpter in An Acceptable Loss, Taraji P. Henson in What Men Want and The Best of Enemies, Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Fast Color, and Black-ish’s\u00a0Marsai Martin in Little. Did I mention that at the age of 14, Martin is the youngest EP of a film ever. One record already established and the film hasn’t come out yet.<\/p>\n

As far as directors Kasi Lemmons has the Harriet Tubman biopic coming out this year, Tina Gordon directed Little, Dee Rees is back in the mix with The Last Thing He Wanted and Melina Matsoukas is directing Queen & Slim from a script by Lena Waithe.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of at least 50 films that are slated for a 2019 theatrical or streaming release that are either produced, directed by or featuring Black talent in prominent roles. Included in the group are independent films that are completed that should appear at festivals with the hope of getting a distribution deal for this year as well.<\/p>\n

The following are films with confirmed release dates<\/strong><\/p>\n

ESCAPE ROOM<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Release Date: January 4, 2019
\nStudio: Screen Gems (Sony)
\nDirector: Adam Robitel
\nScreenwriters: Bragi F. Schut and Maria Melnik
\nStarring:Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Taylor Russell, Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis, and Nik Dodani<\/p>\n

Six adventurous strangers travel to a mysterious building to experience the escape room — a game where players compete to solve a series of puzzles to win $10,000. What starts out as seemingly innocent fun soon turns into a living nightmare as the four men and two women discover each room is an elaborate trap that’s part of a sadistic game of life or death.<\/span><\/p>\n