Black Snake Moan update

Stuff you mostly already know from a story in IGN FilmForce:


By Steve Head
December 14, 2005 - You'd think the former *NSYNC star would hit a few notes in his first major movie, which happens to be about one man's love for the blues. But that's not the case with Black Snake Moan, director Craig Brewer's follow-up to Hustle & Flow. Brewer tells IGN FilmForce, Timberlake "doesn't sing. He gives a terrific acting performance. He's really someone that I've always wanted to work with. He's done a fantastic job on my movie. I'm really excited that we're working together now."

The real shining star of Black Snake Moan is Samuel L. Jackson. "He sings and plays his own guitar," says Brewer. "He also recorded his own tracks."

As for the particulars of the story, "it's about this older, black Memphis bluesman who has kind of been retired and he's now returned," says Brewer. "He kind of helps this girl. He finds this one white, redneck girl, who is kind of like the town floozy. He kind of nurses her back to health. He believes it's kind of curing her nymphomania. That's Christina Ricci, and her boyfriend is played by Justin Timberlake. He's in the Guard and he's going off to Iraq. Justin's from Memphis, as am I. And he's just terrific in the part. I really can't go into much more detail about it."

After receiving critical acclaim for the rap-based rawness of Hustle & Flow, Brewer says the same music-loving intensity will propel Black Snake Moan. "I thought it was about time to do a real blues movie. The kind of blues that I know. A blues movie that really reflects the blues music, where I'm from. It's got a lot more sex in it, a lot more anger, a lot more raw emotion to it. You know, a lot like rap."

Having completed principal photography, Brewer is currently editing Black Snake Moan in Los Angeles. "It's going pretty good," he says. "I'm looking at another couple of weeks of editing. We'll have the movie out sometime next year."