Winnie Mandela biopic will be in theaters in November. The movie had been held back for sometime now.
“Winnie” opened up at the Montreal International Black Film Festival this week, will be in Canadian theaters Oct. 5 and the U.S. in November. Since it’s 2011 Toronto premiere, the film has a few battle scars, inflicted by critics, J-Hud haters, and ‘re-dos.’ Writer/director Darrell Roodt says the main source of complaints stemmed from the casting choice. Contrary to other opinions, he had Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard in mind from the beginning.
“Terrence Howard is my all-time favorite actor,” he said in an interview with IndieWire.com’s Shadow and Act blog. “I just think that guy’s an astonishing man, and I got him and it was amazing. And Jennifer – when I saw her in ‘Dreamgirls’ I was busy writing Winnie at the time, and I said this is a really interesting human being. I think she would be [right for the part.] So we went to them both and we got them both. It was one of those wonderful things where we didn’t chase anyone.”
Darrell thought Jennifer and Terrance would bring more positive reactions.
Darrell said, “The thing I say to the detractors, for example in my own country, is to see the film. Just see how much effort and homework these actors put into it. What Terrence Howard brought to the table is nothing less than astonishing in my estimation. It’s just incredible, the depth with which he approached his character, and Jennifer did as well. She was just amazing.”
[ione_embedsrc=http://www.youtube.com/embed/cvrHmyTmMNA service=youtube width=420 height=315]
