Don Cheadle pays tribute to the imagined life and times of Miles Davis
Don Cheadle co-wrote and stars in his directorial debut, a fanciful (Cheadle prefers the term “metaphorical”) tale of an encounter between Ewan McGregor’s Rolling Stone journalist and Cheadle’s reclusive Miles Davis in 1979. Having lost his muse and succumbed to years of medicated silence, Davis is rumoured to be on the brink of a comeback. But an attempted interview soon descends into a caper chase of drug deals, shootouts and stolen tapes, interspersed with flashbacks to Davis’s once-inspirational relationship with Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi), amid rasping declarations that “it takes a long time to play like yourself”.
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Don Cheadle co-wrote and stars in his directorial debut, a fanciful (Cheadle prefers the term “metaphorical”) tale of an encounter between Ewan McGregor’s Rolling Stone journalist and Cheadle’s reclusive Miles Davis in 1979. Having lost his muse and succumbed to years of medicated silence, Davis is rumoured to be on the brink of a comeback. But an attempted interview soon descends into a caper chase of drug deals, shootouts and stolen tapes, interspersed with flashbacks to Davis’s once-inspirational relationship with Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi), amid rasping declarations that “it takes a long time to play like yourself”.
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- 4/24/2016
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
A fantasy about Miles Davis’s life and music; loose, free-flowing, a kind of cinematic jazz. An astonishingly assured directorial debut from Don Cheadle. I’m “biast” (pro): love Don Cheadle
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Don’t call it jazz… it’s social music.” Miles Davis really did say that about his work. But he didn’t say it to Rolling Stone journalist Dave Braden, because Dave Braden doesn’t exist. Though one may readily imagine that the real Miles Davis would have been just as testy with journalists as the Miles we see onscreen in Miles Ahead is with the fictional Braden. It’s a testiness — and an accompanying desire to craft his own story to his own liking, to tell his story his own way — that informs everything about this ingeniously seductive film.
We could say,...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Don’t call it jazz… it’s social music.” Miles Davis really did say that about his work. But he didn’t say it to Rolling Stone journalist Dave Braden, because Dave Braden doesn’t exist. Though one may readily imagine that the real Miles Davis would have been just as testy with journalists as the Miles we see onscreen in Miles Ahead is with the fictional Braden. It’s a testiness — and an accompanying desire to craft his own story to his own liking, to tell his story his own way — that informs everything about this ingeniously seductive film.
We could say,...
- 4/22/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Late Fall and Winter are generally the months for prestige movie biographies that often reap Oscar gold, but now the start of Spring appears to be a most fruitful time for such projects. After two sports “bio-pics, Race and Eddie The Eagle, burst out of their respective gates at the year’s start, the cinema scene has shifted from athletes to musicians. Country music icon Hank Williams lead the charge just a few weeks ago with I Saw The Light, then the jazz world was explored via trumpet man Chet Baker in Born To Be Blue. Now we get a look at the life of one of Baker’s contemporaries (who is actually portrayed in Blue), who’s also a legendary “horn man”, the one and only Miles Davis. And while actors Tom Hiddleston and Ethan Hawke truly immersed themselves in their roles as Hank and Chet, Don Cheadle’s...
- 4/22/2016
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
If anyone still thinks that the 2016 Oscar race hasn't yet started in earnest, they got a wake-up call last week with the release of Don Cheadle's "Miles Ahead." It's his creative take on the life of jazz legend Miles Davis, which premiered last fall as the closing night of the 2015 New York Film Festival. As Davis says to the journalist: "If you're gonna tell a story, come with some attitude." Cheadle does that in "Miles Ahead," and then some, but is it enough to land him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor early next year? -Break- Subscribe to Gold Derby Breaking News Alerts & Experts’ Latest Emmy Predictions Cheadle, who serves as the film's co-producer, co-writer, director and star, focuses on two eras of Davis' life -- the early 1950s, where, as a sharply-dressed jazz trumpeter on the rise who meets the love of his life, dancer Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corineal.
- 4/5/2016
- Gold Derby
"There was something about this woman and their relationship that I really connected to," says actress Emayatzy Corinealdi about why she wanted the role as dancer Frances Taylor in the film "Miles Ahead." Taylor was wooed by jazz legend Miles Davis in 1958 and served as his muse even after they divorced a decade later. As she adds in our interview (watch above), "The career that she had built for herself and all of these different factors played into who she was and into the dynamics of their relationship." -Break- Subscribe to Gold Derby Breaking News Alerts & Experts’ Latest Emmy Predictions The film starring and directed by Don Cheadle mainly focuses on a five-year period in the late 1970s when chronic pain and drug use caused the trumpet player and composer to take an extended creative break. Flashbacks to Davis' marriage to Taylor show how she affected his life and career,...
- 4/4/2016
- Gold Derby
When a music biography is done right, it can be something truly special. And when we are talking about Don Cheadle's passion project about the legendary musician Miles Davis, Miles Ahead is a an intoxicating musical journey. Filled with tha master's music and his turbulant relationship with the stunningly beautiful Frances Taylor, there is much to be admired. Produced, co-written, directed... Read More...
- 4/1/2016
- by JimmyO
- JoBlo.com
Though high-speed, higher-stakes car chases of the variety we find opening Miles Ahead are not hard to come by in modern cinema, there’s something remarkably enchanting about watching one featuring the most influential jazz musician in American history riding shotgun.
The verve may not hit all at once. Any experienced biopic viewer may assume the set piece in question could turn out to be little more than an energized track in the “greatest hits album” format that’s standard across the genre. Quickly enough, however, we begin to understand just how much of its time and attention Miles Ahead has chosen to devote to this particularly eccentric episode in Miles Davis’ storied life.
Serving as the movie’s principal through line, the story follows the aging musician and his conditionally witting partner-in-crime, Rolling Stone writer and relative stranger Dave Brill, on a nothing-to-lose attempt to retrieve Davis’ unheard and...
The verve may not hit all at once. Any experienced biopic viewer may assume the set piece in question could turn out to be little more than an energized track in the “greatest hits album” format that’s standard across the genre. Quickly enough, however, we begin to understand just how much of its time and attention Miles Ahead has chosen to devote to this particularly eccentric episode in Miles Davis’ storied life.
Serving as the movie’s principal through line, the story follows the aging musician and his conditionally witting partner-in-crime, Rolling Stone writer and relative stranger Dave Brill, on a nothing-to-lose attempt to retrieve Davis’ unheard and...
- 3/31/2016
- by Michael Arbeiter
- We Got This Covered
In a project that is eight years in the making, Don Cheadle stars in his directorial debut as the legendary musician Miles Davis. “Miles Ahead” is a film that pays reverence not only to the musician, but also to Davis’ first wife, Frances Taylor Davis, the woman who inspired his critically acclaimed seventh album, “One Day My Prince Will Come.” The gracious and stunning Emayatzy Corinealdi stars as Ms. Taylor Davis in “Miles Ahead”. I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with her about the role, working with Don Cheadle and connecting with the real Frances Taylor...
- 3/28/2016
- by Aramide A Tinubu
- ShadowAndAct
A film that's on my 2017 Oscars predictions list, below, check out a new clip from Don Cheadle's "Miles Ahead" which opens theatrically a week from today, on April 1, via Sony Pictures Classics. Cheadle's film follows Miles Davis (played by Cheadle), after what is to be his comeback album is stolen before he’s ready for it to be heard, as he hunts it down with the help of an enterprising music journalist (played by Ewan McGregor). Emayatzy Corinealdi plays Frances Taylor in the film, and Keith Stanfield is a young John Coltrane-like protege. Underneath the new clip below, you'll find a previously-released clip, followed by the film's trailer if you haven't seen it.
- 3/25/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
A film that's on my 2017 Oscars predictions list, below, check out a new clip from Don Cheadle's "Miles Ahead" which opens theatrically on April 1, via Sony Pictures Classics. Cheadle's experiment (he's insisted that it not be called a traditional biopic) follows Miles Davis (played by Cheadle), after what is to be his comeback album is stolen before he’s ready for it to be heard, as he hunts it down with the help of an enterprising music journalist (played by Ewan McGregor). Emayatzy Corinealdi plays Frances Taylor in the film, and Keith Stanfield is a young John Coltrane-like protege. Underneath the clip below, you'll find the film's trailer if you haven't seen it.
- 3/15/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
There's a reason that, in an age when everyone from Hank Williams to the Notorious B.I.G. has been blessed with a biopic, a musical giant like Miles Davis had long eluded big-screen treatment. For starters, the idea of trying to do justice to the jazz legend's multifaceted career with a cradle-to-grave template seemed ridiculous; when asked what he'd accomplished, the jazz trumpeter and composer replied with, "Well, I guess I changed music five or six times," and it wasn't an idle boast. There was his tempestuous life story, the kind...
- 3/14/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Miles Ahead is a wildly entertaining and moving exploration of one of 20th century music’s creative geniuses, Miles Davis, featuring a career defining performance by Oscar nominee Don Cheadle in the title role. Working from a script he co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Cheadle’s bravura directorial debut is not a conventional bio-pic but rather a unique, no-holds barred portrait of a singular artist in crisis.
Check out the trailer for the film opening in New York and Los Angeles April 1st.
In the midst of a dazzling and prolific career at the forefront of modern jazz innovation, Miles Davis (Cheadle) virtually disappears from public view for a period of five years in the late 1970s. Alone and holed up in his home, he is beset by chronic pain from a deteriorating hip, his musical voice stifled and numbed by drugs and pain medications, his mind haunted by unsettling ghosts from the past.
Check out the trailer for the film opening in New York and Los Angeles April 1st.
In the midst of a dazzling and prolific career at the forefront of modern jazz innovation, Miles Davis (Cheadle) virtually disappears from public view for a period of five years in the late 1970s. Alone and holed up in his home, he is beset by chronic pain from a deteriorating hip, his musical voice stifled and numbed by drugs and pain medications, his mind haunted by unsettling ghosts from the past.
- 2/5/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Don Cheadle takes center stage as legendary jazz musician Miles Davis in a new trailer for the feature “Miles Ahead.” “Miles Ahead” is not a typical musical biopic in the vein of “Ray” or “Walk the Line.” Instead, the film focuses on Davis’ life in the 1970s as the musician tries to jumpstart his career. Flashbacks weave in and out of the film, filling the gaps of Davis’ early success. Ewan McGregor co-stars as Rolling Stone journalist Dave Brill, who approaches Davis for an article highlighting the icon’s return to the spotlight. Emayatzy Corinealdi also stars as Davis’ first wife Frances Taylor. This is a passion project for Cheadle. The actor not only stars, but directed, co-wrote, and co-produced the drama that closed the New York Film Festival last fall and recently played at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is set for release April 1. Inspired by this post?...
- 2/3/2016
- backstage.com
Don Cheadle brings the bravado of Miles Davis to life in the first trailer for his directorial debut, “Miles Ahead.” Cheadle plays the legendary musician in the biopic, which sees the jazz virtuoso, fighter and genius as he bursts out of his silent period, conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (Ewan McGregor) to steal back his music and relives the years he had with his great love, Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). The film also stars Michael Stuhlbarg (“Steve Jobs“) and Keith Stanfield (“Straight Outta Compton”). Steven Baigelman and Cheadle co-wrote the screenplay. Also Read: Don Cheadle's Miles Davis Movie...
- 2/3/2016
- by Joe Otterson
- The Wrap
Some eyebrows were raised when the New York Film Festival decided to close out a stellar year with Miles Ahead, an unseen-by-almost-any Miles Davis biopic that marks the directorial debut of Don Cheadle. That confusion continued once people saw the movie: what was touted in the festival notes as “truly, one of the finest films ever made about the life of an artist” played to many, myself included, as a half-interesting, half-perfunctory telling that, if you’ll allow me, knew much of the music and little of the rhythm.
Given the generally lukewarm response, it’s of little surprise that Sony Pictures Classics won’t hold the picture over for next year’s awards consideration, instead slotting it for an April 1 release. (April 1… Nyff’s ringing endorsement… you create the joke.) The first preview is a decent indication of what’s coming, and so I believe it’s safe to say that,...
Given the generally lukewarm response, it’s of little surprise that Sony Pictures Classics won’t hold the picture over for next year’s awards consideration, instead slotting it for an April 1 release. (April 1… Nyff’s ringing endorsement… you create the joke.) The first preview is a decent indication of what’s coming, and so I believe it’s safe to say that,...
- 2/2/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
It's pretty clear where I got the first name of my first son, Toshiro, and he's well aware of the legacy of the artist who inspired that name. While he hasn't seen Seven Samurai yet, he knows who Toshiro Mifune was and that he is an actor I hold in very high regard. What's less immediately clear is that my younger son is also named after one of my artistic heroes, because it's his middle name. He is Allen Miles McWeeny, and sure enough, he is named after one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, a towering figure whose music has meant more to me than I can ever fully express. Don Cheadle must share some of that same reverence for Miles Davis, and it's certainly clear from his new film as a star and as a writer/director that he embraces the full complexity of Miles, flaws and all.
- 1/24/2016
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Don Cheadle’s Miles Davies’ biopic to get international premiere.
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has unveiled the eight-strong line-up for its Berlinale Special strand, which includes recent works by contemporary filmmakers and biopics of renowned personalities.
The programme includes the world premiere of Terence Davies’ drama biopic A Quiet Passion, which stars Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon as the celebrated American poet Emily Dickinson, charting her life from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive artist. Jennifer Ehle (Fifty Shades Of Grey) and Keith Carradine (Nashville) co-star.
The line-up also includes the international premiere of Miles Ahead, Don Cheadle’s directorial debut in which he also stars as jazz pioneer Miles Davis in late 1970s Manhattan, dealing with sycophants, industry executives, career highs and lows and memories of the love of his life, Frances Taylor.
Pernilla August’s A Serious Game will also world premiere...
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has unveiled the eight-strong line-up for its Berlinale Special strand, which includes recent works by contemporary filmmakers and biopics of renowned personalities.
The programme includes the world premiere of Terence Davies’ drama biopic A Quiet Passion, which stars Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon as the celebrated American poet Emily Dickinson, charting her life from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive artist. Jennifer Ehle (Fifty Shades Of Grey) and Keith Carradine (Nashville) co-star.
The line-up also includes the international premiere of Miles Ahead, Don Cheadle’s directorial debut in which he also stars as jazz pioneer Miles Davis in late 1970s Manhattan, dealing with sycophants, industry executives, career highs and lows and memories of the love of his life, Frances Taylor.
Pernilla August’s A Serious Game will also world premiere...
- 1/18/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Could it be that Hollywood has heard our plea to stop making so many biopics? Probably not, though Don Cheadle seems to have. The actor's directorial debut, Miles Ahead, which he also co-wrote and stars in as Miles Davis and which closed out the New York Film Festival last weekend, is such an improvisational riff on the genre that it's more like an anti-biopic. Ostensibly about Davis's cocaine-addicted cave years of living as a hermit in an Upper West Side mansion in the late '70s, it's also a fictional buddy caper, in which a gun-toting Davis heads out into the night to track down some asshole record producers who've stolen tapes of his new music while accompanied by a shady white guy posing as a Rolling Stone reporter (Ewan McGregor), and flashing back to happier times with his first wife, Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). Cheadle goes full Davis, in...
- 10/14/2015
- by Jada Yuan,Trupti Rami
- Vulture
I don’t know why any film about someone as innovative, unstoppable, and crazy as Miles Davis leaves so little impression, but to begin addressing that question would require remembering many significant things from Miles Ahead. This slip-up grates for a few reasons. First and foremost is, indeed, the obvious disconnect between what fascination a man creates and how a feature about his life pulls us in, and this nagging sense of failure extends toward the knowledge that this work is a labor of love. More than the story of a significant figure, Miles Ahead is also the crowdfunded-to-make-sure-they-can-do-it-right feature debut of Don Cheadle, who, from the first second of being onscreen, makes clear that he’s putting a lot on the table.
It’s not just the wig, the glasses, the scratchy voice, or the jittery physical presence; it’s that all of these are working in concert to...
It’s not just the wig, the glasses, the scratchy voice, or the jittery physical presence; it’s that all of these are working in concert to...
- 10/12/2015
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Now that the New York Film Festival has the premiere of Steven Spielberg's "Bridge Of Spies" out of the way, and the glitzy bow of Danny Boyle's "Steve Jobs" has wrapped up, they can focus on their next big movie to be unveiled: Don Cheadle's "Miles Ahead." For those of us who aren't in the Big Apple, the first clip from the movie will provide a little preview. Read More: Nyff Preview: 12 Films To Watch Long Must-See Slate Don Cheadle stars in and directs the passion project that finds him playing jazz legend Miles Davis. The story is set during the musician's silent period and follows his return to music, the hatching of a plot with a Rolling Stone writer (Ewan McGregor) to win back control of his songs, and details his relationship with his great love and muse Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). It's potentially great material,...
- 10/8/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, starring Tom Hanks, will make its World Premiere at the 53rd New York International Film Festival, running from September 25 to October 11. The film was one of 26 announced as part of the festival’s main slate, along with one of four World Premieres.
Some of the main slate highlights include Todd Haynes’s Carol, featuring Cannes Best Actress Winner Rooney Mara alongside Cate Blanchett, Miguel Gomes’s three part saga Arabian Nights, Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s The Assassin, the Us premiere of Michael Moore’s latest Where to Invade Next, Michel Gondry’s French film Microbe et Gasoil, and the World Premiere of the documentary Don’t Blink: Robert Frank, about the life of the fames photographer and filmmaker.
Previously announced films include the World Premiere of The Walk, Robert Zemeckis’s Philippe Petit biopic serving as the opening night film, the World Premiere of...
Some of the main slate highlights include Todd Haynes’s Carol, featuring Cannes Best Actress Winner Rooney Mara alongside Cate Blanchett, Miguel Gomes’s three part saga Arabian Nights, Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s The Assassin, the Us premiere of Michael Moore’s latest Where to Invade Next, Michel Gondry’s French film Microbe et Gasoil, and the World Premiere of the documentary Don’t Blink: Robert Frank, about the life of the fames photographer and filmmaker.
Previously announced films include the World Premiere of The Walk, Robert Zemeckis’s Philippe Petit biopic serving as the opening night film, the World Premiere of...
- 8/13/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Sony Pictures Classics has pounced on a hot awards prospect, acquiring Us rights and all available territories on Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic and feature directorial debut.
Miles Ahead tells the story of a few lost days in the life of Davis as he bursts out of his silent period, conspires with a Rolling Stone writer to steal back his music and relives the years he had with his great love, Frances Taylor.
Spc tends to premiere its choice films in Telluride, although the film’s official world premiere has already been set for October 10 as the New York Film Festival closing night gala.
Steven Baigelman and Cheadle co-wrote and Cheadle stars alongside Ewan McGregor, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michael Stuhlbarg and Keith Stanfield.
Cheadle, Lenore Zerman, Pamela Hirsch, Daniel Wagner, Robert Ogden Barnum, Darryl Porter and Vince Wilburn, Jr produced, while Mark Amin, Baigelman, Jonathan Gardner, Davis’ son Erin Davis and daughter Cheryl Davis, serve as executive...
Miles Ahead tells the story of a few lost days in the life of Davis as he bursts out of his silent period, conspires with a Rolling Stone writer to steal back his music and relives the years he had with his great love, Frances Taylor.
Spc tends to premiere its choice films in Telluride, although the film’s official world premiere has already been set for October 10 as the New York Film Festival closing night gala.
Steven Baigelman and Cheadle co-wrote and Cheadle stars alongside Ewan McGregor, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michael Stuhlbarg and Keith Stanfield.
Cheadle, Lenore Zerman, Pamela Hirsch, Daniel Wagner, Robert Ogden Barnum, Darryl Porter and Vince Wilburn, Jr produced, while Mark Amin, Baigelman, Jonathan Gardner, Davis’ son Erin Davis and daughter Cheryl Davis, serve as executive...
- 8/5/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Sony Pictures Classics stepped up to acquire as many available territories as possible--a priority for seller UTA--including North America for Don Cheadle’s directorial debut "Miles Ahead." The biopic will world premiere on closing night of the upcoming Nyff (September 25 – October 11). Cheadle stars as legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, during his crazy Manhattan days in the late-70s, opposite Emayatzy Corinealdi as his great love Frances Taylor and Ewan McGregor as Dave Brill, a Rolling Stone reporter who cons his way into Miles’ apartment. Spc co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard have such a healthy awards slate for 2015 that they will not add this one to their awards docket, preferring to wait until 2016, when one-time Best Actor nominee Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda") could be a strong acting contender. On the foreign side, always a strong suit for Spc, are Cannes award-winner "Son of Saul," the official Oscar submission from...
- 8/5/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Don Cheadle’s directorial debut Miles Ahead, which focuses on a few lost days in the life of jazz great Miles Davis, played by Cheadle in the film. The movie, for which Spc took worldwide rights covering most territories, has been selected to screen as the closing night film at the upcoming New York Film Festival. Written by Steven Baigelman and Cheadle, Miles Ahead also stars Ewan McGregor as a Rolling Stone writer who helps Davis steal back his music, and Emayatzy Corinealdi as Frances Taylor, the great love of Davis’ life. The cast also includes
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- 8/5/2015
- by Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Read More: Don Cheadle's Directorial Debut 'Miles Ahead' to Close 53rd New York Film Festival Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic, "Miles Ahead." The film follows Davis, played by Cheadle himself, as he works with a Rolling Stone writer to steal back his music and relives the time he had with his love, Frances Taylor. "Miles Ahead' will close the 53rd New York Film Festival this year and also marks the actor's directorial debut. "Miles was many things…a supreme artist and a national treasure but also an enigma to those around him, especially during his so-called quiet period," said Cheadle. "With the family's blessing and Miles' tenets on creativity as our guide, we used these cloistered years as a jumping off point to compose the story of a self-exiled artist creating his own 'centrifugal adventure' to spin himself back into playing music again.
- 8/5/2015
- by Kaeli Van Cott
- Indiewire
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to Miles Ahead, the Miles Davis biopic starring Don Cheadle who makes his directorial debut on the movie. The pic tells the story of a few lost days in the life of the trumpet icon as he bursts out of his silent period, conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (Ewan McGregor) to steal back his music, and relives the years he had with his great love Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). The film is premiering October 11 as…...
- 8/5/2015
- Deadline
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to Don Cheadle’s directorial debut “Miles Ahead,” in which the “Iron Man 3” actor stars as jazz trumpeter and songwriter Miles Davis, the company announced Wednesday. “Miles Ahead” tells the story of a few lost days in the life of Davis, the virtuoso, fighter and genius, as he bursts out of his silent period, conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (Ewan McGregor) to steal back his music and relives the years he had with his great love, Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). Financed by BiFrost Pictures, the film was recently announced as this year’s Closing Night.
- 8/5/2015
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
The 53rd New York Film Festival Centerpiece Gala is Danny Boyle's "Steve Jobs" biopic, adapted by Aaron Sorkin from Walter Isaacson's biography, starring Michael Fassbender as the man at the center of the digital revolution, Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, Jeff Daniels as John Sculley, Michael Stuhlbarg as Andy Hertzfeld, and Katherine Waterston as Chrisann Brennan, set for Legendary/Universal release on October 9. The producers are Mark Gordon, Guymon Casady, Scott Rudin, Boyle, and Christian Colson. This follows last week's announcement that Don Cheadle’s directorial debut "Miles Ahead," in which he stars as legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, will world premiere on closing night of the upcoming Nyff (September 25 – October 11). Cheadle stars as Davis, during his crazy Manhattan days in the late-70s, opposite Emayatzy Corinealdi as his great love Frances Taylor and Ewan McGregor as...
- 7/27/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
While putting my early Oscar predictions together I included Don Cheadle's directorial debut Miles Ahead, in which he not only directs but stars in the life story of Miles Davis, on my Best Actor (Cheadle) and Best Supporting Actress (Emayatzy Corinealdi) charts, but not on the Best Picture charts because the film is still without a domestic distributor and therefore without a release date and I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself. Well, the film is now set to premiere at the 53rd New York Film Festival as the closing night feature, which may be just the thing it needs to get a little buzz going. The announcement also comes with the following information regarding the story the film set out to tell: Miles Davis was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. And how do you make a movie about himc You get...
- 7/22/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Read More: Robert Zemeckis' 'The Walk' to Open the 53rd New York Film Festival The Film Society of Lincoln Center has lined up "Miles Ahead," Don Cheadle's highly-anticipated directorial debut, as the Closing Night Film for the upcoming 53rd New York Film Festival (Nyff). The screening will mark the film's world premiere. The Oscar-nominated actor ("Hotel Rwanda") also stars in the biopic as Miles Davis, one of the 20th century's greatest and most fascinating artists. Cheadle's film will focus on the legendary jazz musician's crazed years in the late 1970s, during which he struggled with a variety of ailments while also contending with memories of past triumphs and falls. His years with Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi), the love of his life, are also explored. Nyff Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said, "I admire Don's film because of all the intelligent decisions he's made about how to deal with Miles,...
- 7/22/2015
- by David Canfield
- Indiewire
Don Cheadle is set to make his directorial debut with "Miles Ahead," a biopic about jazz legend Miles Davis, who the actor has apparently been obsessed with from a young age. Cheadle's film focuses on Davis's so-called "silent period," a five-year span he took off from music before returning to his art, as well as the musician's rocky relationship with Frances Taylor Davis, his first wife. After languishing in the development whirlpool for almost a decade, the project is set to begin shooting this week in Cincinnati. Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg and Emayatzy Corinealdi co-star alongside Cheadle as Davis. Remarkably, Cheadle is making his film without any studio backing--he had a bite from HBO at one point but that fell through, and the actor/director turned to Indiegogo instead to raise $325,000. With a little less than two days to go, the project has so far raised about $265,000. EW sat down with Cheadle for an.
- 7/8/2014
- by Jacob Combs
- Thompson on Hollywood
The first photo is out of actor Don Cheadle as music legend Miles Davis in the upcoming biopic "Miles Ahead" which begins filming this week in Cincinnati. EW premiered the first photo from the film which has been in development for almost a decade.
The movie focuses on a single five year period in Davis' life which saw him pull back from music and navigate a fraught relationship with first wife Frances Taylor Davis. Cheadle hopped onboard the film because it's different to other films of the genre:
"I had done several other quote-unquote biopics and was always struck by the limitations they presented, because they were trying to be historically accurate. Let's be honest, any biopic is a series of omissions and conflations of events and amalgamations of characters.
And you're trying to have a movie experience under three hours, so in the process you condense people's lives from cradle to grave,...
The movie focuses on a single five year period in Davis' life which saw him pull back from music and navigate a fraught relationship with first wife Frances Taylor Davis. Cheadle hopped onboard the film because it's different to other films of the genre:
"I had done several other quote-unquote biopics and was always struck by the limitations they presented, because they were trying to be historically accurate. Let's be honest, any biopic is a series of omissions and conflations of events and amalgamations of characters.
And you're trying to have a movie experience under three hours, so in the process you condense people's lives from cradle to grave,...
- 7/8/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
After turning to crowdsource funding in his efforts to raise money for his long-planned Miles Davis film, House of Lies actor Don Cheadle is finally moving forward with Miles Ahead, which he’ll both star in and make his directorial debut on. Shooting begins this week in Cincinatti, and Entertainment Weekly just unveiled our first look at Cheadle in the role (below).
Carrying a trumpet and proudly sporting the jheri-curled mullet Davis made famous, Cheadle certainly looks the part. And if what we’ve been hearing about Miles Ahead so far is any indication, Cheadle’s appearance is just one of many reasons to be excited for this film. For one, the actor has shied away from the word biopic - Miles Ahead focuses on the jazz musician’s attempts to break out of his five-year silent period and into the music industry – as well as back into the heart...
Carrying a trumpet and proudly sporting the jheri-curled mullet Davis made famous, Cheadle certainly looks the part. And if what we’ve been hearing about Miles Ahead so far is any indication, Cheadle’s appearance is just one of many reasons to be excited for this film. For one, the actor has shied away from the word biopic - Miles Ahead focuses on the jazz musician’s attempts to break out of his five-year silent period and into the music industry – as well as back into the heart...
- 7/7/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
After being a fan of music legend Miles Davis for years, Don Cheadle is finally about to play him on screen – and make his directorial debut at the same time with Miles Ahead. Now, via Entertainment Weekly, we have the first look at Cheadle in character.The film kicks off shooting this week in Cincinnati, ending a journey through development that has lasted for nearly a decade. With Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Keith Stanfield and Emayatzy Corinealdi all aboard to co-star, the drama will sidestep usual biopic conventions by focusing on one specific period of Davis’ life, a tumultuous five-year span that saw him pull back from music and navigate a fraught relationship with first wife Frances Taylor Davis.“This was something that had been a periphery for me,” Cheadle tells EW. “I never thought about portraying him, really. I had done several other quote-unquote biopics and was always struck by the limitations they presented,...
- 7/7/2014
- EmpireOnline
High Rise
Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men") has joined the cast of Ben Wheatley's darkly comic dystopian thriller "High-Rise" based on Jg Ballard's classic story. Set in a new luxury residential tower built on the eve of Thatcher’s England, the residents soon are split into violent tribal factions.
Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans, James Purefoy, Reece Shearsmith, Peter Ferdinando and comedian Dan Renton Skinner also star. Filming begins in July in Belfast. [Source: Screen]
The Longest Ride
Melissa Benoist ("Glee") has scored a role in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' "The Longest Ride" at Fox 2000. Benoist will play Marcia, a well intentioned roommate, whilst Alan Alda and Jack Huston also star.
Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood lead the cast as a young couple whose romance parallels the the intertwined love story of a local elderly man and his lady love. [Source: Deadline]
Miles Ahead
Emayatzy Corinealdi ("Middle of Nowhere...
Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men") has joined the cast of Ben Wheatley's darkly comic dystopian thriller "High-Rise" based on Jg Ballard's classic story. Set in a new luxury residential tower built on the eve of Thatcher’s England, the residents soon are split into violent tribal factions.
Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans, James Purefoy, Reece Shearsmith, Peter Ferdinando and comedian Dan Renton Skinner also star. Filming begins in July in Belfast. [Source: Screen]
The Longest Ride
Melissa Benoist ("Glee") has scored a role in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' "The Longest Ride" at Fox 2000. Benoist will play Marcia, a well intentioned roommate, whilst Alan Alda and Jack Huston also star.
Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood lead the cast as a young couple whose romance parallels the the intertwined love story of a local elderly man and his lady love. [Source: Deadline]
Miles Ahead
Emayatzy Corinealdi ("Middle of Nowhere...
- 6/25/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Emayatzy Corinealdi ("Middle of Nowhere") is in negotiations to play the female lead in Don Cheadle's Miles Davis project, titled "Miles Ahead," to replace Zoe Saldana, who had long been attached to the film, but had to detach due to scheduling conflicts. Corinealdi, assuming an agreement is reached, will play Frances Taylor, Miles Davis' first wife - a 1958 marriage that lasted 10 years. In the film, after his record label steals his comeback album before he’s ready for it to be heard, Miles Davis (played by Cheadle, who's also directing) hunts it down with the help of a music journalist (played by Ewan McGregor). "Miles Ahead" is...
- 6/25/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
• Channing Tatum (22 Jump Street), and The Grand Budapest Hotel co-stars Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes are in talks to join Joel and Ethan Coen’s Hail, Caesar! They’d star alongside Coen brothers regulars George Clooney and Josh Brolin in the 1950s-set comedy about a Hollywood fixer named Eddie Mannix. Swinton would portray a gossip columnist, Tatum is in negotiations to use his dancing skills as a “Gene Kelly-type star,” and Fiennes is considering the role of a studio director. [THR; Variety]
• Emayatzy Corinealdi (Middle of Nowhere) is in negotiations to join Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. She...
• Emayatzy Corinealdi (Middle of Nowhere) is in negotiations to join Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. She...
- 6/25/2014
- by Lindsey Bahr
- EW - Inside Movies
Exclusive: Don Cheadle‘s Miles Davis biopic is moving along with Emayatzy Corinealdi. The Middle of Nowhere star is in negotiations for the female lead in Miles Ahead following Star Trek actress Zoe Saldana‘s exit due to a scheduling conflict. She’ll play Davis’ wife Frances Taylor opposite Cheadle as the iconic jazzman and Ewan McGregor as Dave Brill, with Boardwalk Empire‘s Michael Stuhlbarg also in talks to join the cast. The script, by Steve Baigelman and Cheadle, tracks a few dangerous days in Davis’ life as he emerged from a silent period to conspire with a Rolling Stone writer to steal […]...
- 6/25/2014
- Deadline
A passion project of Don Cheadle’s for years, the Miles Davis film Miles Ahead is gathering steam, and Cheadle is busy putting the cast together at last. He’s just recruited Keith Stanfield, who impressed us all so much in Short Term 12.Cheadle co-wrote the script with Steven Baigelman and is using the film as his directorial debut, in addition to playing jazz icon Davis. Eschewing the usual straightforward biopic format, he’s focusing on a few difficult days in the musician’s life, with Davis joining forces with a Rolling Stone reporter (Ewan McGregor) to track down a stolen recording he hopes will breathe new life into his career.Stanfield is set to play Junior, a talented but impressionable young trumpet player who is involved with the theft. He joins a cast that should, assuming the deals goes through, also star Zoe Saldana as Frances Davis. Cheadle...
- 6/19/2014
- EmpireOnline
Los Angeles, Nov 14: Actors Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana have joined Don Cheadle's passion project on iconic jazz pioneer Miles Davis.
The movie will not just see Cheadle, 48, play the lead role, but he will also debut as director with the film, reports aceshowbiz.com.
McGregor will essay a Rolling Stone reporter, while Saldana will portray Frances Davis, the ex-wife of Davis.
Cheadle said at the American Film Market that the movie wouldn't be a traditional biopic.
"Let's kill that term, Ok? I hope with this film we can kill the biopic. This film won't try to give a broad overview of Davis' life and.
The movie will not just see Cheadle, 48, play the lead role, but he will also debut as director with the film, reports aceshowbiz.com.
McGregor will essay a Rolling Stone reporter, while Saldana will portray Frances Davis, the ex-wife of Davis.
Cheadle said at the American Film Market that the movie wouldn't be a traditional biopic.
"Let's kill that term, Ok? I hope with this film we can kill the biopic. This film won't try to give a broad overview of Davis' life and.
- 11/14/2013
- by Ketali Mehta
- RealBollywood.com
Updated: The two actors will star opposite Cheadle, who will make his feature directorial debut with "Kill the Trumpet Player."
Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana have joined Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic Kill the Trumpet Player.
Kill the Trumpet Player centers on a few dangerous days in the life of Miles Davis (Cheadle), as he bursts out of his silent period and conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (McGregor) to steal back his music. Saldana will play Frances Davis, Miles' former wife.
Cheadle will make his feature directorial debut from a screenplay co-written by Steven Baigelman.
BiFrost's Daniel Wagner is financing and will produce with Robert Ogden Barnum, Cheadle and Lenore Zerman for Crescendo Productions, Darryl Porter and Vince Wilburn Jr. Executive producers are Pamela Hirsch, Cheryl Davis, Erin Davis, Cassian Elwes and Baigelman. Musician Herbie Hancock, a Davis collaborator, will also participate.
"Don is one of our generation's greatest actors,...
Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana have joined Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic Kill the Trumpet Player.
Kill the Trumpet Player centers on a few dangerous days in the life of Miles Davis (Cheadle), as he bursts out of his silent period and conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (McGregor) to steal back his music. Saldana will play Frances Davis, Miles' former wife.
Cheadle will make his feature directorial debut from a screenplay co-written by Steven Baigelman.
BiFrost's Daniel Wagner is financing and will produce with Robert Ogden Barnum, Cheadle and Lenore Zerman for Crescendo Productions, Darryl Porter and Vince Wilburn Jr. Executive producers are Pamela Hirsch, Cheryl Davis, Erin Davis, Cassian Elwes and Baigelman. Musician Herbie Hancock, a Davis collaborator, will also participate.
"Don is one of our generation's greatest actors,...
- 11/13/2013
- by Philiana Ng
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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