In 1994, James Earl Hardy, an American playwright, released his novel, B-Boy Blues. B-Boy Blues follows the tumultuous relationship between Mitchell Crawford, a 27-year-old journalist, and Raheim Rivers, a 21-year-old bicycle messenger and B-Boy (banjee boy). They meet in a gay bar in Greenwich Village in the summer of 1993. The B-boy hangs out on street corners, cool and menacing. In 1995, the novel was a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Best LGBT/Small Press Title, and it has been described as a title that “continues to be a staple within the Black LGBTQ/Same Gender Loving community, spawning a series that has now sold millions worldwide.”
The good news is that B-Boy Blues is now coming to our screens. The movie will be directed, as his debut directing project, by former Empire Actor, Jussie Smollett. B-Boy Blues — The Movie follows, like the novel, the journey of two Black men, one who makes a career as a journalist (similar to Hardy’s career as a music journalist) and the other who works as a bike messenger, Shadow and Act reports. The cast for the movie includes Timothy Richardson, Thomas Mackie, Brandee Evans, Ledisi, Broderick Hunter, Landon G. Woodson, Michael Jackson, Jr., Marquise Vilson, Jabari Redd, Brian Lucas, Heather B., Eric R. Williams, Otis Winston, Tiesha Thomas, Jahleel Kamara, Andre Virgo, Bry’Nt, Ilara Phoenix Williams, and Sampson McCormick.
“Like so many same-gender-loving, black men… B-Boy Blues was and continues to be a story that hits home for me in ways that not many people truly understand. With that said… it’s truly a universal story about Black on black love. I couldn’t be more psyched to have this project be my feature film directorial debut. To have someone as iconic as James Earl Hardy, trust me, to bring his vision to life is an honor I don’t take lightly. And to produce/finance it with the launch of my company, SuperMassive, which will invest in projects by LGBTQ+, women and filmmakers of color is what my life’s work has been for. I hope I do it justice, but with the cast and crew we’ve assembled… it’s looking damn good,” Jussie Smollett told Shadow and Act.
According to Deadline, the film has been in production in New York City since Oct. 17. SuperMassive Movies, is a subsidiary of Jussie Smollett’s already-formed Story Worthy Pictures banner. The film as well as SuperMassive is financed by Cleveland based Radio Broadcast investor, Tom Wilson, with the production label funding independent, micro-budgeted projects from LGBTQ+, women and filmmakers of color.
Tagged “The Love Story for the Ages, the movie is already an official selection for the American Black Film Festival 2021 and is ready to be released as a movie soon. The date for the release is yet to be announced.
Watch the trailer of B-Boy Blues here:
