It was announced last year that Don Cheadle would direct, star and co-write the upcoming Miles Davis biopic, Miles Ahead, a tumultuous undertaking of the late-trumpeter's comeback story. Now, Sony Pictures Classics has released the first trailer from the upcoming film and the production seems to take on a reckless point-of-view of the iconic jazz musician.
Granted, the film is about a singular subject, so the added allure of Davis' drug addiction, volatility and what appears to be a gun shoot-out are all elements garnered to attract an audience. Miles Davis is certainly an interesting topic for film, but Cheadle was able to color the musician a bit more honestly, or at least with a bit more entertainment.
As the trailer depicts, this isn't a typical documentary-esque biopic. No, instead, it hones in on a specific period in Davis' life: the comeback. When his new recordings go missing, Davis and fictional Rolling Stone journalist, Dave Braden, embark on an odyssey to discover just where the missing tape went.
The movie almost marks Cheadle's directorial debut. Speaking on the film in an interview, Cheadle remarked:
"...When it first came to me, it was just something for me to act in. When I met with [Miles'] family, I told them I wanted to do something that wasn't like I had seen before, and I had a take on the movie, that if I was going to play him, that it had to be as creative and different, that if it wasn't as aspirational as he was, then I wasn't really that interested. And before I got to my house after that meeting, it kind of came to me that that would be hard for anyone else possibly to see it the same way that I was seeing it, so if I was going to do it, I'd probably have to direct it. And as I was calling them, they were kind of calling me to say the same thing."
As its been reported, Miles Ahead will also star Michael Stuhlbarg, Keith Stanfield and Austin Lyon. The move premiered at the New York Film Festival back in October and will open April 1.
Check out the epic Miles Ahead trailer below.
