Starring Michael Jai White, Tyson Beckford, Robert Ri’chard and Eurika Pratts amongst others, Jean-Claude LaMarre’s "Chocolate City," which will take viewers into the world of male strippers, who also happen to be black, now has an official release date of May 22, both in theaters and on iTunes the same day – although the specific cities in which the film will be released, aren’t public info yet.
Call it the black "Magic Mike" (see Daniel Simolke’s piece on this blog on "Magic Mike’s" diversity problem, here), "Chocolate City" will follow, Devin…
a young college student struggling to make ends meet who meets the
owner of a male strip club who convinces him to give amateur night a
whirl.
Gotta pay the bills
somehow, right? It certainly won’t be the first time we’ve heard a story
about a college kid having to strip, or even "hook," as they work their
way through higher education. The difference this time is that the
protag is black and male, which isn’t the typical college hard-luck
story you’d find told on film.
Jai White plays the owner of the strip club, while Beckford is the club’s
former star attraction, whose star is now fading, thanks to the upstart
kid who’s moving in.
Miller plays Devin, the young college student, while Pratts is his girlfriend
who isn’t too pleased with her boyfriend’s choice of employment.
And
in a bid to draw the profitable pious crowd, there’s said to be a subplot involving
Devin’s struggles with reconciling his strict religious upbringing with
his career as a stripper.
Director LaMarre (who most recently helmed the "Gang of Roses" movies) says that the project is one he’s been developing for a
couple of years, as he researched the male strip club scene, eventually
realizing how immensely popular it is.
LaMarre, who penned the script, is also producing via his Nulite production company, along with Gabriel Casseus, Robert Aaronson and Rozina Negusei of Zanar Entertainment.
Look for the movie on May 22, 2015. Keep in mind that the "Magic Mike" sequel will also be released this year, July 1, so I suspect "Chocolate City" may be timed to steal some of that film’s thunder.
This might actually be coming along at the right time, given the success of "Magic Mike," as well as what I’ve previously identified as a recent renewed interest
by Hollywood studios in targeting black audiences, both on the big and
small screens.
A first trailer for "Chocolate City" follows below:
