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With SuperFly opening this week in theaters, I recently sat down with Director X to talk about his reimagining of the 1972 blaxploitation film. Director X made quite a name for himself in the music video world, where he’s established himself with a prolific career directing videos for top artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and many, many more. During the wide-ranging conversation he talked about why he wanted Future to do the soundtrack, the insanely tight production schedule, what it was like using a Lamborghini for the car chase, why the apartment shootout was a tough part of the shoot, what he learned from the test screening process, and why he wanted the film to have a threesome.
If you’re not familiar with SuperFly, it’s written by Watchmen co-writer Alex Tse, and stars Trevor Jackson (Grown-ish) in the role of Priest Youngblood, as played previously by Ron O’Neal in Gordon Parks Jr.’s original film. In both versions of the movie, Priest is a cocaine dealer trying to get out of the business after one last job. We all know how well that one last job always goes. SuperFly also stars Jason Mitchell, Michael Kenneth Williams, Lex Scott Davis, Jacob Ming-Trent, and Jennifer Morrison. For more on SuperFly, check out the recent trailer.
- Why did he get Future for the soundtrack?
- How they only started shooting the movie in January and it’s already coming out.
- Which sequence was he most nervous about shooting due to the tight production schedule?
- What was it like shooting a car chase with a Lamborghini and how did he get the car? Talks about how everything about the film had to be Superfly.
- Why the character of Priest is trying to get out of the business.
- What was it like directing a threesome and why did he want to put the sequence in the movie?
- What did he learn from the test screening process?
