ABFF 2023 Red Carpet Exclusive: Producer Charles King On They Cloned Tyrone
At the opening of the 2023 American Black Film Festival on June 14, Blackfilmandtv.com had the opportunity to speak with producer Charles D. King on his latest film They Cloned Tyrone.
The film stars Golden Globe winner John Boyega (Small Axe, Attack the Block, Star Wars), Teyonah Parris (The Marvels, WandaVision) and Oscar winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, Just Mercy) who also produced the film.
The film follows a series of eerie events that thrusts an unlikely trio (Boyega, Parris, and Foxx) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper. They Cloned Tyrone will have a limited theatrical release prior to launching on Netflix July 21, 2023.
They Cloned Tyrone is the directorial debut of Juel Taylor, the writer behind Creed II, and is co-written by Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier. The film is produced by Charles D. King, Stephen “Dr.” Love, Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, Jamie Foxx, and Datari Turner. The film is executive produced by Mark R. Wright, Kim Roth, Jack Murray, Federal Films, Dana Sano, Monte Lipman and co-executive produced by James Lopez and Poppy Hanks.
This is a different type of movie. You can't label it. It's not a comedy. It's not a horror movie. As a producer, when somebody's pitching you this, what's the first thing that went through your mind?
Charles King: Well, Juel's first, I mean, his first pitch to us, we were like, man, this is nothing like this. And we'd worked with him on a television project that we also have, and we knew that Juel and Tony would deliver. And it was a very well-thought-out pitch, and it was very competitive, too. There were a lot of people that were bidding on it. And we were just so thrilled when it landed with us and how quickly they turned around the script. When we heard it, we were like, man, this is touching on almost every genre. He was doing it in a really smart and subversive way. And to see this thing come to life, honestly, as much as we knew how special it was, he over-delivered in terms of what our expectations were. So we're so excited to have people see this movie. They're going to be like, oh, shit, this is a filmmaker that everyone's going to be talking about when this movie drops.
And then you've got the cast. You have the script, but then when you put together John and Jamie and Teyonah, folks are ready to see the film sight unseen.
Charles King: Having the script on the page, but then when we sat down with him and they heard his vision, then they were like, there was so much talent that was interested in this project and this movie and working with the filmmaker. Because he had a clear point of view, perspective and vision for the film. And he knew what he was doing every step of the way. It was so well prepared. And you'll see it.
Now, you like to take a lot of chances with films. It's not like the easiest, oh, it's got to make $100 million. It's got to let the people make it happen. What goes into creating the decision of saying yes and taking on projects?
Charles King: Well, like I said, we'd work with them on a television project called Birth of Cool. And we're in love with the beauty of their voice and the uniqueness of it. And so it was very clear that what he was going to do and where he was heading down the path as a filmmaker. And so for us, it was about being like Stacy. We've always said being an artist-friendly studio and company and making sure that we could use the resources and tools and our experience to make sure that we're back and support his vision. And in this case, we knew that Netflix was the ideal partner because there were a lot of studios that were interested.And they over-delivered as partners on supporting his vision. And you will see from the scope of this that we didn't cut any corners. And they didn't cut any corners.
When you're talking about this project, what are your thoughts? Do you buy it right away?
Charles King: Well, I'm not the one that makes that decision. I'm working on the brand and marketing side of it. But when just hearing it, hearing the voice, hearing the passion of the filmmaker, how he just saw it from start to finish, I was in. And I was like, this needs to be out there. So yes, excited.