Reggae legend Bob Marley has been the subject of numerous documentaries over the years, but we’ve never had an official biopic of the man before. All that is set to change as Bob Marley: One Love jams into UK cinemas from January 12, 2024.
While he’s currently making life difficult for Nick Fury over in Marvel’s Secret Invasion, Kingsley Ben-Adir will soon be seen as Marley, having been cast in the role after a globe-spanning search. Lashana Lynch plays Rita Marley, Bob’s wife, with Jesse Cilio as his father, Norval Marley, James Norton as record producer Chris Blackwell, and Michael Gandolfini, Nadine Marshall, and Anthony Welsh in as-yet-undisclosed supporting roles.
King Richard director Reinaldo Marcus Green is calling the shots here, working from a script by Zach Baylin, Frank E. Flowers, and Terence Winter. Most importantly, the project comes with the full support of the Marley estate, with Marley’s son Ziggy, daughter Cedella, and widow, Rita, producing, along with Robert Teitel.
For those unfamiliar with Marley’s life, work, and music, a) shame on you, and b) here’s the scoop. A seminal figure in reggae, Marley brought Jamaican music and culture to global prominence with his group, the Wailers, as well as popularising the Rastafarian religion, of which he was an ardent proponent. At the height of his creativity and influence, he sadly died of cancer in 1981, at the young age of 36.
Although plot details are thin on the ground, Bob Marley: One Love focuses on the period between the 1976 assassination attempt on Marley, who was a fierce proponent of social reform in his native Jamaica, to the 1978 One Love Peace Concert.
It remains to be seen whether a single film can do justice to the life of such an important cultural figure, but judging from the trailer they’re certainly giving it a red hot go. And hey: the soundtrack is going to be absolutely killer.
