One of the most surprising things to come out of Netflix’s Tudum event is the first trailer forThey Cloned Tyrone, a sci-fi/comedy starring Jamie Foxx, John Boyega, and Teyonah Parris. It’s the feature directorial debut of Juel Taylor, co-writer ofCreed II(andSpace-Jam: Legacy¸but everyone’s gotta get paid, no judgment), and the logline is “FridaymeetsGet Out”, but that just reminds me of how people sold Boots Riley’sSorry to Bother Youas “the nextGet Out” when that film is100% doing its own thing. Not everything has to beGet Out! At this point, describing a film as “the nextGet Out” or “X meetsGet Out” just makes me wonder how familiar a person is with Black cinema, becauseGet Outis one movie doing a very specific thing and comparing every other film from a Black filmmaker to it just makes me think certain people haven’t watched enough movies by Black filmmakers.
They Cloned Tyrone, for instance, doesn’t look likeGet Outat all. It also doesn’t look likeFriday. The sci-fi bent is there, but in style and tone, this reminds me of Rudy Ray Moore and Blaxploitation. Maybe a little bitThe Mack, which isn’t really Blaxploitation, but it came out in 1973, during the first flourishing of Blaxploitation as a sub-genre, and often gets lumped in. Anyway, I’m here forThey Cloned Tyrone. John Boyega got his start in a sci-fi film,Attack the Block, which I ADORE, and I’m glad to see him back in the genre but without space wizards this time. And whatever Jamie Foxx is doing, I’m into it. He’s one of the few actors I think you can let riff on set, and actually get gold from him, and when he’s in comedies, it can be tough to tell scripted acting from Foxx just riffing and finding jokes as he goes. And Teyonah Parris, yes, love the whole vibe. This trailer is funny and intriguing, which is about as much asThey Cloned Tyroneappears to have in common withGet Out: a funny and intriguing trailer.
Attached - Jamie Foxx out for dinner last week at Catch in LA.
