Judas and the Black Messiah

*Judas and the Black Messiah*
Judas and the Black Messiah
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shaka King
Screenplay by	Will Berson; Shaka King;
Story by	Will Berson; Shaka King; Kenny Lucas; Keith Lucas;
Produced by	Charles D. King; Ryan Coogler; Shaka King;
Starring	Daniel Kaluuya; LaKeith Stanfield; Jesse Plemons; Dominique Fishback; Ashton Sanders; Martin Sheen;
Cinematography	Sean Bobbitt
Edited by	Kristan Sprague
Music by	Mark Isham; Craig Harris;
Production; companies	MACRO; Participant; Bron Creative; Proximity Media;
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	February 1, 2021 (Sundance); February 12, 2021 (United States);
Running time	126 minutes
Countries	United States; Canada;
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$7.4 million

Judas and the Black Messiah is a 2021 American biographical crime drama film directed and produced by Shaka King, who wrote the screenplay with Will Berson, based on a story by the pair and Kenny and Keith Lucas. The film is about the betrayal of Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in the late-1960s Chicago, by William O'Neal (played by LaKeith Stanfield), an FBI informant. Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rel Howery, Algee Smith, Dominique Thorne, and Martin Sheen also star.

A Fred Hampton biopic had been in the works for several years, with the Lucas brothers and Will Berson writing and shopping screenplays individually since 2014. Berson's version almost got made with F. Gary Gray directing, but King was hired to direct when that fell through. The cast joined in 2019, with the blessings of Hampton's family, with filming beginning that fall in Ohio.

Judas and the Black Messiah premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on February 1, 2021, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on February 12, simultaneously in theaters and digitally on HBO Max. Released amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the film grossed $7 million worldwide against a budget of $26 million. The film was acclaimed by critics, who praised King's direction, the cinematography, the screenplay, the performances (particularly Kaluuya, Stanfield, and Fishback), and its timely themes.

Judas and the Black Messiah earned six Oscar nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for both Kaluuya and Stanfield, with the former winning, and Best Original Song ("Fight for You"). For his performance, Kaluuya also won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and BAFTA Awards. Since then, it has been cited as one of the best films of the 2020s and the 21st century.^[4]^[5]

^ Cite error: The named reference Variety-Dec20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Judas and the Black Messiah". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
^ "Judas and the Black Messiah". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
^ Hughes, Mark. "The Top 150 Greatest Films Of The 21st Century". Forbes. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
^ "The 20 Best Drama Movies of the 2020s So Far, Ranked". Collider. August 24, 2023.

[Variety-Dec20-1] Cite error: The named reference Variety-Dec20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[BOM-2] "Judas and the Black Messiah". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 10, 2021.

[NUM-3] "Judas and the Black Messiah". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

[4] Hughes, Mark. "The Top 150 Greatest Films Of The 21st Century". Forbes. Retrieved October 26, 2023.

[drama-5] "The 20 Best Drama Movies of the 2020s So Far, Ranked". Collider. August 24, 2023.

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