Larry Busacca
Film Director Spike Lee is bringing Rodney King's story to the big screen. King, who died in 2012, was known internationally after he was beaten by the LAPD following a high-speed chase.
This article originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly.
Spike Lee’s upcoming film about Rodney King isn’t a typical biopic. Instead, the Chi-Raq filmmaker transformed Roger Guenveur Smith’s one-man show about King into a feature-length film for Netflix, and viewers can get their first look in the new trailer.
Smith took his show on the road, and Rodney King features footage from his Aug. 12 performance at the East River Park Amphitheater in New York City. “You look into the rearview — ‘whoo,’” Smith says, imitating the sound of a police siren. “There’s that familiar red and blue, blue, blue. You’re a young African-American male, you should know what to do, do, do.”
He also mentions Stacey Koon, one of the LAPD officers who was videotaped beating King in the streets in 1991. “Before you know it, Rodney King, you’re the first reality TV star,” Smith says.
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The actor, who worked with Lee on films like Do the Right Thing and Chi-Raq, also executive-produces with Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor, and Patrick DePeters. Steven Adams and Bob L. Johnson also produce.
Rodney King will debut on Netflix this April 28. Watch the trailer above.
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