After a global search landed Kingsley Ben-Adir the part, the world now has its first look at the red-hot Secret Invasion actor’s take on Bob Marley.
The trailer for Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love dropped this afternoon. The film is said to celebrates the life and music of the icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. Though numerous iterations of the reggae legend’s life has been developed, One Love marks the first time his story has been brought to the big screen. Produced in partnership with the Marley family — Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley and Cedella Marley are all producers while Orly Marley EPs — the film’s trailer is set to the strains of the Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Jammin’,” and ends with “Exodus.”
Bob Marley died of cancer in 1981 at age 36, but in that short lifetime he changed the landscape of music, introducing generations to such songs as “Get Up, Stand Up,” “One Love,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “Could You Be Loved,” “Buffalo Soldier” and “Redemption Song.”
The film does not look to be an origin story, but rather traces the singer through the peak of his fame, the crisis that he and his family when armed men raided his Kingston, Jamaica home in 1976, and shot him in the chest and arm. Marley’s wife, Rita, was shot in the head in her car in the driveway. Both, as well as his manager Don Taylor, who was also shot, survived.
Despite the shooting, Bob Marley & The Wailers took the stage at a peace concert two days later in hopes of quelling election-related violence. While promising only one song, they played for 90 minutes with Rita singing backup and still wearing the hospital gown she had been discharged in hours earlier.
The film’s climax looks to be the One Love Concert where, after more than a year abroad, Marley returned to Jamaica during a political civil war. The concert came to its peak during the performance of “Jamming”, when Marley joined the hands of political rivals Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, an feat that many later said only Marley could have pulled off.
Lashana Lynch plays Rita Marley alongside a cast that includes James Norton, Tosin Cole, Anthony Welsh, Michael Gandolfini, Umi Myers, Nadine Marshall.
The title role was one of the more coveted parts in Hollywood during the past couple years. Sources say Paramount execs and director Reinaldo Marcus Green saw endless tests and met with dozens of actors vying for the role, but Ben-Adir ultimately won the role, as Deadline exclusively reported last February.
Ben-Adir’s star has been on the rise since his breakout role in Netflix’s The OA, but recent performances playing iconic figures have brought more acclaim. While it was brief, his portrayal as President Barack Obama on Showtime’s The Comey Rule brought instant praise, and his spot-on performance as Malcolm X in the Regina King-helmed One Night in Miami had him in the award-season conversation. He’s also featured in Warner Bros. Discovery’s upcoming Barbie.
Producers are Robert Teitel, Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner, Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley, Cedella Marley.
EPs include Richard Hewitt, Orly Marley, Matt Solodky.
Director is Reinaldo Marcus Green.
Script is by Zach Baylin, Frank E. Flowers and Terence Winter.
Bob Marley: One Love is in theaters January 12, 2024.
Ziggy Marley posted the film’s poster and his own thoughts on the film last night.
