2016 will see the release of two long-gestating music biopics. Miles Ahead, Don Cheadle's feature directorial debut about the life of music extraordinaire Miles Davis, and Nina, Cynthia Mort's Nina Simone biopic.
Written and directed
by Mort, Nina stars Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Saldana as Nina
Simone, the legendary jazz singer/songwriter and civil rights activist.
The project has suffered
some backlash over Saldana's casting, which some say is tantamount to whitewashing
since the actress is of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent making her light-skinned
in comparison to Simone's darker complexion. Having said that, it is hardly the
same as Ridley Scott casting Joel Edgerton as Ramses in Exodus: Gods and Kings
or Alex Proyas' casting Gerard Butler as Set in Gods of Egypt.
Nina opens in
theaters on April 22, and also stars Mike Epps, Ronald Guttman, Ella Thomas,
and David Oyelowo, who is also the film's executive producer.
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