''Get on Up'' is a 2014 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

about the life of singer

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and is directed by

Tate Taylor Tate Taylor (born June 3, 1969) is an American filmmaker and actor. Taylor is best known for directing ''The Help'' (2011), '' Get on Up'' (2014), and '' The Girl on the Train'' (2016). Early life Taylor was born on June 3, 1969 in Jackson, Mis ...

and written by Jez and

John-Henry Butterworth John-Henry Butterworth is an English screenwriter who has co-written several screenplays with his brother Jez Butterworth. The brothers won the Writers Guild of America's 2011 Paul Selvin Award The Paul Selvin Award is a special award presen ...

. Produced by

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated fo ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, Taylor and Victoria Pearman, the film stars an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

featuring

Chadwick Boseman Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, ...

as Brown,

Nelsan Ellis Nelsan Ellis (November 30, 1977 – July 8, 2017) was an American actor and playwright. He achieved critical acclaim for his portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO television series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), for which he won a Satel ...

Bobby Byrd Bobby Howard Byrd (August 15, 1934 – September 12, 2007) was an American rhythm and blues, soul and funk singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, bandleader and talent scout, who played an integral and important part in the development ...

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

as Ben Bart,

Viola Davis Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...

as Susie Brown, Craig Robinson as

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of B ...

, and

Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors Gu ...

as Aunt Honey. The project was announced August 2013, along with Boseman, Davis, Spencer and Ellis' casting. Principal photography began on November 4, 2013 and took place in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, where the entire film was shot on location in 49 days. The film was released on August 1, 2014 in the United States and received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at the performances of the cast (particularly those of Boseman and Ellis), and grossed $33 million worldwide at the box office.

Plot

The film uses a

nonlinear narrative Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative, or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, video games, and other narratives, where events are portrayed, for example, out of chronological order or in other ways ...

, following

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver (physician), Daniel Ol ...

as he recalls events from his life in an asynchronous manner, occasionally breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

to address the audience. In 1939, young James lives in poverty with his mother and abusive father in the backwoods of

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

. His mother eventually leaves and becomes a prostitute. His father joins the Army, leaving James in the care of his brothel-running aunt. He is fascinated by the shout music at a

black church The black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as their ...

. Later, he fights in a "

battle royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

" boxing match for the amusement of a white audience. Imagining the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

band breaking into a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

style inspires him to win the bout. He spots his mother on the street one night, but she denies knowing him. In 1949, 17 year-old James is imprisoned for stealing a suit. When

and his

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

group perform at the prison, James is inspired. He impresses Bobby with his singing, and Bobby's family supervises his

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

. James establishes himself as a lead singer and shifts the group's sound toward R&B. He leads them to jump onstage at a

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

show, introduces them as "

the Famous Flames The Famous Flames were an American Rhythm and blues, Soul vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown first began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their first ...

", and they perform a rousing rendition of "

Caldonia "Caldonia" is a jump blues song, first recorded in 1945 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. Although credited to Fleecie Moore, his wife at the time, Jordan is the actual songwriter. The song was a hit for Jordan as well as several other musici ...

". Richard gives James advice and warns him of the "white devil". James marries Velma Warren, and they have a son, Teddy. In 1955,

Ralph Bass Ralph Basso Jr. (May 1, 1911 – March 5, 1997), known as Ralph Bass,The birth surname of Ralph Bass's paternal grandfather, who was born in Italy, was DuBasso. was an American rhythm-and-blues record producer and talent scout for several indepen ...

signs the band to King Records and records their first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "

Please, Please, Please "Please, Please, Please" is a rhythm and blues song performed by James Brown and the Famous Flames. Written by Brown and Johnny Terry and released as a single on Federal Records in 1956, it reached No. 6 on the R&B charts. The group's debut rec ...

". Ben Bart becomes James' manager; he and label executive

Syd Nathan Sydney Nathan (April 27, 1904 – March 5, 1968) was an American music business executive who founded King Records, a leading independent record label, in 1943. He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues a ...

relegate the rest of the band to salaried employee status, and they quit. By 1962 James and Bobby have re-formed the band, and James finances the recording of the hugely successful '' Live at the Apollo''. After the show he is approached by his mother, who apologizes for leaving him. He wants nothing to do with her, but gives her financial support. In 1964 James upstages the up-and-coming

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

on the ''

T.A.M.I. Show ''T.A.M.I. Show'' is a 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civ ...

'' with his high-energy performance and dance moves. By paying young radio DJs to promote his shows, he is able to avoid promoter fees. He divorces Velma and marries Deidre Jenkins, but becomes abusive toward her. He treats his new backing band like lackeys, fining them for various infractions, calling rehearsals on their days off, and berating them for questioning him. He develops a signature

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station * ...

, laying the foundation for funk. When the

King-assassination riots The King assassination riots, also known as the Holy Week Uprising, were a wave of civil disturbance which swept the United States following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Many believe them to be the greatest wa ...

break out in 1968, James convinces the mayor of Boston not to cancel his show at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

. Tensions are high between the police and the black audience, but James calms the crowd and issues a plea for togetherness. He records "

Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" is a funk song performed by James Brown, and written with his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis in 1968. It was released as a two-part single which held the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart for ...

" and pitches President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

his idea to perform a series of

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

shows for American troops in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Though their plane is nearly shot down, the band survives and their performance is well-received. James suffers several setbacks, beginning with Ben's death from a heart attack. He starts several businesses and is investigated by the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

for

back taxes Back taxes is a term for taxes that were not completely paid when due. Typically, these are taxes that are owed from a previous year. Causes for back taxes include failure to pay taxes by the deadline, failure to correctly report one's income, or n ...

. His band presents a list of demands; when James rebuffs them, all quit except Bobby, who helps him assemble a new band. After a 1971 concert in Paris, Bobby proposes doing a second solo album. James considers this a betrayal; they argue and Bobby quits. James' eldest son, Teddy, dies in a car accident. In Augusta in 1988, James gets high on

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

and PCP and visits one of his businesses, finding that someone from a neighboring seminar has used his private restroom. He confronts the seminar carrying a shotgun, which he accidentally fires into the ceiling before forgiving the offender. The police arrive and James flees in his truck, crashing through a roadblock before being apprehended and imprisoned. In 1993, James meets Bobby for the first time in 20 years and gives him tickets to his concert at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the CNN Center, Omni ...

. As he takes the stage, he reflects on the cost he has paid for success. Seeing Bobby and his wife in the audience, he performs " Try Me", moving them to tears.

Cast

** Jamarion and Jordan Scott as young James Brown *

as Ben Bart *

as Susie Brown *

Lennie James Lennie Michael James (born 11 October 1965) is a British actor, screenwriter, and playwright. His work includes playing Morgan Jones in the television series, '' The Walking Dead'' and in its spin-off, '' Fear the Walking Dead'', and starring ...

as Joseph "Joe" Brown *

Fred Melamed Fred Melamed (born May 13, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for portraying Sy Ableman in the Coen Brothers' ''A Serious Man'' (2009). He is also known for his collaborations with Woody Allen appearing in seven of ...

* Jamal Batiste as

John "Jabo" Starks John Henry "Jabo" Starks (; October 26, 1937Sources vary as to his year of birth. According to his obituary, published by Mobile Register, Starks was born on October 26, 1937; The New York Times gives 1938 – May 1, 2018), sometimes spelled Jab' ...

* Craig Robinson as

* Jill Scott as Deidre "Dee-Dee" Jenkins *

as Aunt Honey Washington * Atkins Estimond as Big Junior *

Josh Hopkins William Joshua Hopkins (born September 12, 1970) is an American actor. Some of his best known roles include Raymond Millbury on '' Ally McBeal'' (2001–2002), Grayson Ellis on ''Cougar Town'' (2009–2015), and Liam O'Connor on '' Quantico'' (2 ...

Brandon Mychal Smith Brandon Mychal Smith (born May 29, 1989) is an American actor, singer, dancer, and rapper. He is best known for playing Bug Wendal in ''Gridiron Gang'', Li'l Danny Dawkins in ''Phil of the Future'', Nico Harris in ''Sonny with a Chance'' and '' ...

Tika Sumpter Euphemia LatiQue Sumpter, better known as Tika Sumpter, is an American actress, singer, producer, television host, and model. Sumpter began her career as the host of '' Best Friend's Date''. From 2005 to 2010, she appeared in the daytime soap ope ...

Yvonne Fair Flora Yvonne Fair Strain (''née'' Coleman; October 21, 1942 – March 6, 1994), known professionally as Yvonne Fair, was an American singer, best known for her 1975 recording of " It Should Have Been Me". Life and career Flora Yvonne Coleman ...

Aunjanue Ellis Aunjanue L. Ellis ( born February 21, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Men of Honor'' (2000), ''The Caveman's Valentine'' (2001), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), '' Ray'' (2004), '' The Express: The Erni ...

Vicki Anderson Vicki Anderson (born Myra Barnes; November 21, 1939) is an American soul singer best known for her performances with the James Brown Revue. She recorded a number of singles under both her birth and stage names. She is the widow of Bobby Byrd a ...

Tariq Trotter Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...

Pee Wee Ellis Alfred James Ellis (April 21, 1941 – September 23, 2021), known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 196 ...

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in th ...

as Nafloyd Scott * Keith Robinson as Baby Roy *

Nick Eversman Nicholas Eversman (born February 15, 1986) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Michael Winstone on the ABC mystery drama '' Missing'' and Liam Jones II on the ABC fantasy adventure drama ''Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a ...

J. D. Evermore J. D. Evermore is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Thomas Silby in '' Treme'', Detective Lutz in ''True Detective'', Harley in '' The Walking Dead'', Carl Daggett in ''Rectify'', Holt in '' Maggie'', and as Dewey Revette in ' ...

as Seminar Presenter *

Ahna O'Reilly Ahna O'Reilly is an American actress. She is best known for her role in the film ''The Help'' (2011). Career O'Reilly began her acting career in 2003 in the film, ''Bill the Intern''. She has appeared in several other movies like ''Dinocroc'', ' ...

as Reporter * James DuMont as Corporal Dooley * Stacey Scowley as Penelope White *

Liz Mikel Elizabeth Juliene Mikel (née Lacy; born November 7, 1963) is an American actress and jazz vocalist from Dallas, Texas. She is best known for her role as Corrina "Mama" Williams, mother of star running back Brian "Smash" Williams, on the NBC ...

as Gertrude Sanders * Aaron Jay Rome as

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" an ...

* Clyde Jones as

Daddy Grace A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

* Joe T. Blankenship as

Alan Leeds Alan Leeds (born January 26, 1947) is an American music executive, tour manager, production manager, writer and archivist best known for his work organizing performances and concert tours for artists such as James Brown, Prince, KISS, Cameo, D'An ...

Michael Papajohn Michael Papajohn (born November 7, 1964) is an American character actor, stuntman and former college baseball player for the LSU Tigers baseball team. He played Dennis Carradine in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy. Early life Papajohn was b ...

as 1949 Cop *

Kirk Bovill Kirk Bovill (born January 17, 1961) is an American actor, writer, voice-over artist and producer. His film credits include ''Vice'', ''20th Century Women'', ''Free State of Jones'', '' Get on Up'', ''Contraband'', ''Texas Killing Fields'', ''Whi ...

as Announcer * Aakomon Jones as Bobby Bennett *

John Benjamin Hickey John Benjamin Hickey (born June 25, 1963) is an American actor with a career in stage, film and television. He won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Felix Turner in ''The Normal Heart''. ...

as Richard *

Allison Janney Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academ ...

as Kathy * Jamell Richardson as

Jimmy Nolen Jimmy Nolen (April 3, 1934 – December 18, 1983)
- accessed November 13, 2011 was an American

* Justin Hall as

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

* David Carzell as

Catfish Collins Phelps "Catfish" Collins (October 17, 1943 – August 6, 2010) was an American musician. A lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist, he is known mostly for his work in the P-Funk collective. Although frequently overshadowed by his younger brother, ...

* Jason Davis as Mayor Kevin White *

Billy Slaughter William H. Slaughter is an American film and television actor, best known for his roles in '' The Campaign'' and ''Focus''. In his free time he works with students that want to become actors and actresses at Launch Model And Talent in Metairie, ...

as Pool Cleaner * Charles R. Rooney as President Lyndon B. Johnson * Phyllis Montana-Leblanc as Mrs. Byrd

Production

Imagine Entertainment Imagine Entertainment (formerly Imagine Films Entertainment), also known simply as Imagine, is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard. Background Brian Gra ...

listed a James Brown biopic in development in 2000, with a script titled ''Star Time'' written by

Steven Baigelman Steven J. Baigelman is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and film director. He has written the screenplays for the crime dramedy '' Feeling Minnesota'' (1996), the television crime thriller '' Brother's Keeper'' (2002), the biographical drama ' ...

joined on as a producer, and Jez and

were brought on to rewrite the script, titled ''Superbad''.

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

was set to direct but development stalled in 2006 over music licensing and finance issues. It was revived in 2012 when Jagger read a recent draft by the Butterworth brothers. John-Henry Butterworth was fascinated by the period concept of celebrity in preparing to write. “When James was becoming famous, you had to hide where you came from and be squeaky clean. Whereas if he were an artist launching his career now his upbringing and what happened to him would be right there in the press release. Everyone knows how many times 50 Cent has been shot.” The script took some liberties and includes at least one scene involving fabricated incidents. Lee vacated the directors position and on October 22, 2012, it was announced that

(''

The Help ''The Help'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Kathryn Stockett and published by Penguin Books in 2009. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A ''USA To ...

'') was set to direct the untitled biopic about

, to be produced by

and

. On August 29, 2013,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

set October 17, 2014, as a release date for the film, previously untitled. Later, on November 13, Universal shifted the release date of the biopic from October to August 1, 2014.

Casting

On August 26, 2013, Universal selected

to play the lead role of James Brown. Boseman did all of his own dancing and some singing. The soundtrack is live recordings of James Brown. On September 17, Universal announced an open casting call for actors, musicians, and extras for different roles in the biopic, which was held on September 21. On September 30, Taylor cast

to play Susie Brown and

to play Aunt Honey. On October 21,

joined the cast of film to portray

, Brown's long-time friend.

joined the cast on October 23, to play the role of Brown's father Joseph "Joe" James. Jill Scott and

were added on October 31; Scott played Brown's wife while Aykroyd played Ben Bart, the president of one of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

's largest talent agencies

Universal Attractions Agency Universal Attractions Agency (UAA) is an American talent agency. It was founded by Ben Bart (Benjamin Robert Bart, 1906–1968) in 1945. The New York City-based agency is currently under the management of Jeff Allen and Jeff Epstein. The agency� ...

. On November 3, Universal added Keith Robinson to the film to portray the role of Baby Roy, a member of Brown's band. On November 14,

also joined the cast, to play singer

. There was a rumor that

Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...

was to join the film to play

Tammi Terrell Tammi Terrell (born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery; April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with singer Marvin Gaye. ...

joined the cast on November 19, to play

. On December 9, 2013, it became public that

was selected to portray Brown's musical idol,

. On December 20,

joined the film to portray the role

, a music producer. After the shooting wrapped up in

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

, the production was looking for extras to begin a shoot on January 6, 2014, filming a concert scene set in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1971. There was another call on January 6, 2014 for extras to film some daytime scenes in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

on January 7, 2014.

Filming

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

began on November 4, 2013, in Natchez, in and around Natchez through the end of the year, and then in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

. On December 20, 2013, the film wrapped up shooting in Natchez. Crews were set to take a holiday break and then return to filming from January 6–24, 2014, in Jackson. Filming got on track again on January 6, 2014, in Jackson. On January 13, 2014, press posted the news that crews had filmed large scenes at Thalia Mara Hall, and they shot other scenes at

Mississippi Coliseum The Mississippi Coliseum is a 6,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Jackson, Mississippi, built in 1962 and located on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds complex. The arena has 6,812 seats available for basketball, and can be expanded to 10,000 for c ...

, Capitol Street, and some of the restaurants in Jackson. In total ''Get on Up'' was shot in 49 days.

Release

On September 1, 2014, it was announced that the film would be the opening film of the 2014

Zurich Film Festival Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is an annual film festival that has been held in Zürich, Switzerland, since 2005. The festival's main focus is to promote emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In three competition categories only first, second ...

Marketing

On March 13, 2014, Universal released some photos and a first official trailer of the film. A second official trailer was released on May 20.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 167 reviews, with an average rating of 6.88/10. The site's consensus reads: "With an unforgettable Chadwick Boseman in the starring role, ''Get on Up'' offers the Godfather of Soul a fittingly dynamic homage." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Brandon Smith received praise from critics for his brief but memorable role as

. Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

found the film "not just good--great. Better than ''

'', which I quite admire, and '' Ray'', which I love. A mite short of a work of genius--it fudges too much and mythologizes beyond the call of narrative necessity. But worthy of the genius who inspired it nevertheless ... ''Get On Up'' does justice to his unknowable soul and his unending music, both of which defy closure by definition." Less favorable reviews include "''Get On Up'' is a cagey, shapeless James Brown biopic" by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who rated the film D+ at ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'', Several other critics noted key facts and incidents omitted in the film, in articles such as "The Social Activist Side of James Brown You Won't See In Get On Up", "The Great Man Theory of Funk: Get On Up shows us James Brown the unstoppable personality, but skimps on James Brown the musician", and "12 Crazy James Brown Moments You Won't See in ''Get on Up''".

Box office

The film grossed $13.4 million during its opening weekend, finishing in third place at the domestic box office behind fellow new release ''

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

'' ($94.3 million) and ''

Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Luci ...

'' ($18.3 million). ''Get on Up'' went on to gross $30.7 million in the U.S. and $2.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $33.4 million by September 2014, against a $30 million budget.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Get On Up 2014 films 2014 biographical drama films 2010s buddy films 2014 LGBT-related films 2010s musical drama films American buddy films American biographical films American LGBT-related films American musical drama films 2010s English-language films African-American musical films Biographical films about musicians Buddy drama films Films based on songs Films set in Paris Films set in 1939 Films set in 1949 Films set in 1950 Films set in 1954 Films set in 1955 Films set in 1962 Films set in 1964 Films set in 1965 Films set in 1967 Films set in 1968 Films set in 1969 Films set in 1971 Films set in 1988 Films set in 1993 Films shot in Mississippi Films scored by Thomas Newman Films produced by Brian Grazer Films directed by Tate Taylor Universal Pictures films Imagine Entertainment films Cultural depictions of James Brown Films produced by Mick Jagger African-American biographical dramas Films with screenplays by Jez Butterworth 2014 drama films 2010s American films