One of HBO’s splashiest acquisitions at the Sundance Film Festival this year was Native Son, a modern retelling of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel of the same name. Starring Moonlight star Ashton Sanders, the film was initially set be distributed theatrically by A24, but after a buzzy premiere at the film festival in January, HBO swooped in. The cable network has released a new Native Son trailer revealing the premiere date of the captivating drama.
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After a well-received premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Native Son heads to HBO in April. Director Rashid Johnson and writer Suzan-Lori Parks adapt Richard Wright’s acclaimed novel into modern times, with Moonlight‘s Ashton Sanders as a young man coming of age in the south side of Chicago. Ahead of the April premiere on HBO, a new Native Son trailer can be seen below.
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Native Son is an adaptation of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel, and while I haven’t read that book, first-time director Rashid Johnson arrives on the scene with a smart, impressive debut full of strong work from a young cast.
Ashton Sanders, who played the teenaged version of Chiron in the Oscar-winning Moonlight, transforms into Bigger “Big” Thomas, a young man from Chicago with a love of punk music and a look to match, wearing a shock of green hair and a long black leather jacket with writing scribbled all over it. Big is a rarity for movie characters: someone who completely defies conventional stereotypes (and acknowledges that fact several times in the film) while also feeling like a well-rounded, genuine human with a life that continues when he’s off-camera. Read More »
