On a day when quite a few folks in my line of vision are already triggered by at least one reboot on Monday, developments are now underway for another. Malcolm M. Mays (Snowfall) is reportedly attached to script a reboot of 1991 crime opus, New Jack City for Warner Bros. Pictures. Bill Gerber (A Star Is Born) is producing.
This is especially one film most people might least expect to see rebooted or remade given its rich, vast and organic nature with respect to the period and time it was made; New Jack City was originally directed by Mario Van Peebles who joins a cast led by Ice-T and Judd Nelson. Both play oil-and-water members of a police squad charged with infiltrating the Cash Money Bros., led by the sinister, seemingly untouchable leader, Nino Brown, played by Wesley Snipes, and younger brother G-Money, played by Allen Payne.
There’s too much to go beyond what I’m typing to elucidate the pertinence of this film, so to truncate a bit: Music from artists like Johnny Gill, Tony Toni Toné, Keith Sweat, Chirstopher Williams, Guy and Color Me Badd set the sound and the mood of Peebles’ film, from a cop’s search for vengeance and the struggle with addiction at the height of the crack epidemic at the time, to the chilling reflection a system of economics and politics that further perpetuated the diaspora among black families and individuals.
Snipes’ portrayal of Brown, a gangster with Tony Montana-sized dreams of wanting it all nearly no matter the cost, is founded in this milieu, leaving off one of the strongest, most memorable and impressive film performances of the early 90s. Peebles sets the tone perfectly as Brown’s rise to power while battling the cops on his tail are what ultimately lead to the explosive conclusion, from his tragic fallout with G-Money, to the cataclysmic courthouse finale that ensues.
Aside from its explosive success at the box office with the likes of Chris Rock, Michael Michele and the late Bill Nunn also starring, New Jack City isn’t really a masterpiece. Nonetheless, it amply captured the zeitgeist back then – such is why it still connects to the DNA of a lot of Xennials like myself to this day.
I didn’t grow up in the seventies, but I’m willing to bet at some level people felt the same way about Superfly (you forgot about that remake, didn’t you?). That being said, I know nothing is really ever off the table when it comes to Hollywood remakes and reboots.
However, Mays has some pretty heavy shoes to fill. Aside from the animus from some moviegoers over another remake/reboot, can he and studio change minds by the time cameras are done rolling and we see first teaser footage?
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