You loved Love and Basketball and Secret Life of Bees and wondered why it was taking so long for writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood to make another movie. Well, finally, she has. It’s called Beyond the Lights and stars Gugu Mbatha- Raw of Belle fame as well as Nate Parker (The Great Debaters) and Brit actress Minnie Driver.
At first, when we heard about the story of a singer who falls in love with an ordinary guy we thought “So VH1 movie” but this looks like it’s a step above that.
Bythewood told EW.com that part of the delay getting the movie out was the debate over who would play the lead. The studio wanted, naturally, a big star. Bythewood wanted the best actress for the role. Eventually the original studio, Sony, pulled out and Bythewood cut a deal with BET and Relativity Media to do the film, which heads to theaters November 14.
Love 100.3? Get more! Join the 100.3 Newsletter
We care about your data. See our privacy policy.
“It was so nice to sit in a room and not hear that the lead is a Black woman and she’s not going to sell,” Bythewood said. “Rather they said, ‘We think she’s a star, who do you want for your male lead?’”
It kind of worked out for Bythewood, since Mbatha-Raw is on the rise after her well-received turn in Belle, a must-see.
