The first trailer for Eddie Murphy‘s new film features the legendary performer as a Kung-Fu sex machine willing to do “whatever it takes” to find fame.
…Well, not exactly. The new biopic Dolemite Is My Name is based on the real-life tale of Rudy Ray Moore, who created a hit character to help his struggling comic career before he decided the best way to make his name known everywhere was to make his very own Blaxploitation movie. For what he lacked in filmmaking experience, he made up in a desire to succeed no matter how many people doubted him. It’s a story of a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer… even when the set of his film started falling down in the middle of a sex scene and its star couldn’t really execute any of his Kung-Fu moves.
Warning: The below trailer is NSFW!
As though Eddie Murphy weren’t enough star power, Dolemite Is My Name boasts an absolutely loaded cast, including Keegan-Michael Key, Tituss Burgess, Craig Robinson, Mike Epps, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Snoop Dogg, and Wesley Snipes as the one actual star involved with Dolemite’s first big screen foray. The film comes from director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow).
Moore’s controversial comedy albums in the early ’70s, which featured profanity-laced rhyming poetry, earned him the moniker “the Godfather of Rap,” one of the best nicknames ever. He then decided to make what became his breakout 1975 cult classic film Dolemite. Dolemite Is My Name is set to have its world premiere next month in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, and will go on to enjoy a limited theatrical release later this fall before heading to Netflix. In the meantime, we think we’ll check out the actual Dolemite to get in the mood. Not despite his lack of Kung-Fu skills. Because of them.
Featured Image: Netflix