'Superfly': Director X, Trevor Jackson and Jason Mitchell On Bringing Gordon Parks Jr.'s Blueprint To The Present-Day

“There is a difference between getting out, and getting pushed out.” Michael K. Williams’ character Scatter offers those haunting words of advice to Youngblood Priest (portrayed by Trevor Jackson) in the new trailer for Superfly. Though this 21st-century film is a world away from Gordon Parks Jr.’s 1972 Harlem-set Super Fly, the core of the story remains untouched. Set in Atlanta, Jackson’s Preist has become increasingly wary of the drug game. The constant paranoia has become all-consuming. Determined to start over, he bands together with his girl Georgia (Lex Scott Davis) and his business partner Eddie (Jason Mitchell) for one last job before he vanishes. Seated at the helm is Director X, known for his astonishing music videos for everyone from Drake to Rihanna, and the filmmaker was determined to elevate Atlanta life in all of its glitz and glory without removing the layer of grime that comes with street life, violence, death and drugs. Seated in the center of a nightclub in ATL surrounded by equipment, props and the incessant chatter of extras in the background, X is clearly in his element. He'd been called upon to deliver a 2018 version of Super Fly, and he's determined to deliver. “We all know the reality of movies nowadays,“ he explained. “People want properties. If you're going to spend 20 million bucks, would you spend it on something you know people will be interested in right away, or would you spend it on an idea? We all miss the old days when people spent a lot of money on ideas they had, but this is the energy in the air right now. I think Cleopatra Jones is being remade. They're doing another Shaft. Even Taraji's Proud Mary; it's not a remake, but it's definitely in the energy of those old movies.”

Despite Hollywood's remake and reboot climate, X revealed that when he first received the script, though it was named Superfly, the tone of the original was nowhere to be found. For him, that was unacceptable. “I read the script, and it wasn't about a drug dealer trying to get out," he remembered. “I said, We gotta make Super Fly, so that’s the movie we’re making. You've got Scatter, Eddie, Georgia, Cynthia, all those main characters that were in the original are here. The major story points happen. We took the major beats of Super Fly and said, 'Alright, these are the major things that happen, these are the things that have to happen in our version, and all the other stuff we do from there is an expansion.'”

Though the original film was considered an action drama during its time, X wanted to elevate the narrative by amplifying the most explosive notes in the plot and fleshing out a glossy and elite Atlanta world for Priest. “There's a little bit of art to everything," the "Work" music video director expressed. “Everything's just a little hyper-real. I didn’t want to do this super realistic drug story. I'm not interested in that. We're making a fun summer movie. Strip club culture is such a big part of the scene out here, but even that, this is the Superfly version of Magic City. Atlanta is the Harlem of today. If you were poppin' in Harlem in the '70s, you was poppin' around the world. If you're poppin' in Atlanta, you're poppin' around the world. This is that black epicenter now."

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On Set With 'Superfly': Remixing The Story For The 21st Century With Atlanta As The Backdrop

In the early ‘70s Gordon Parks' Shaft, Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Gordon Parks Jr.’s Super Fly forever altered how black folks could be seen on screen. Black actors were no longer relegated to the sidelines as servants or even the polished and collected characters that Sir Sidney Poitier mastered in previous decades. These films ushered the Blaxploitation era and broke the mold, allowing black people to step into the spotlight as the varied and multi-dimensional people that we are. Now, over forty years later, visionary filmmaker Director X (Rihanna’s “Work”) is picking up his camera to remix (not reboot) Parks Jr.'s visceral tale of the cocaine dealer, Youngblood Priest. Played by Grown-ish’s Trevor Jackson, Priest has grown weary of the drug game and is determined to do one last big job before getting out for good. On a rainy day in February, I stepped inside one of Atlanta's most renowned nightclubs. The lounge was transformed and redressed as Masquerade Strip Club --a glittering and upscale parlor full of Cirque du Soleil-like dancers. It was as fabulous as you can imagine. I knew immediately that this was miles away from the gritty streets of 1972's Harlem.

A few short weeks into filming, and the set was buzzing with activity. As I sat perched on the balcony, I could see Director X on the ground floor directing the actors which include Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Big Bank Black and Kaalan Walker, among others. The director seemed completely in his element four months from the film's release date. In a world that seems increasingly obsessed with reboots and revamps, resurrecting Super Fly has been in the works for quite some time. "I was always a fan of Blaxploitation films," The Matrix trilogy producer Joel Silver explained as he made his rounds on the set. "It took me a long time to get the rights to Super Fly. Warner's put the movie out in the early '70s, but they only had a one-picture license. I (finally) got it in 2001 or 2002. We went to the studio, but they didn't want to call it Super Fly, and they didn't want the same story. About two years ago I got a call from Steve Shore, the son of the original film’s producer Sig Shore. He said, ‘Are you still interested in Super Fly?' He'd just been approached by Starz. I said, ‘No, no, no. I want it. I want it.’"

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