Traveling down a path quite rare for independent features, especially during the summer, the Sundance hit Dope will be getting a wide release off the bat, going up against Pixar’s Inside Out next month. We also have to give it to Open Road, who are attempting to sell it as an event as the first red band trailer and clip have now arrived, showing off the neighborhood and the drug dealing mayhem.
Directed by Rick Famuyiwa, it was part of U.S. Dramatic Competition slate at Sundance and picked up an editing award there, while it’s currently playing at Cannes as part of the Directors’ Fortnight line-up. Starring Shameik Moore, The Grand Budapest Hotel‘s Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Workaholics‘ Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky, and more, it follows a group of high schoolers in Inglewood, California.
We mostly liked it, saying in our review, “Dope opens with a sense of energy proclaiming that writer-director Rick Famuyiwa has something to say, and he’s going to do it in his own particular way. Difficult to quantify, the Sundance drama is many things: a love letter to the 1990′s era of style and hip-hop, a coming-of-age story, a crime drama, a romance, an examination of social media, and an offbeat comedy. While some of these strands don’t entirely excel, Dope is often a refreshingly lively and passionate work of filmmaking.” Check out the new red band trailer and clip below.
A critical hit and audience favorite out of the Sundance Film Festival, in DOPE, Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
Dope opens on June 19th.