The trailer for the upcoming Jimi Hendrix biopic, All is By My Side has hit the web. The film starring Outkast frontman, Andre Benjamin a.k.a., Andre 3000, looks like it has potential to be really special.
Written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter, John Ridley (12 Years A Slave), the film, which is set in London in 1966 and 1967, will include the songs that Hendrix performed during those years, shortly before the release of his landmark debut, Are You Experienced. None of the songs written by Hendrix will be used in All Is By My Side, as the filmmakers’ request to use them was denied by Hendrix’s estate.
While there has been controversy with the casting of other upcoming biopics including Zoe Saldana in the Nina Simone film and word circulating about Nick Cannon as Richard Pryor in his life story, it will be hard for anyone to object to the casting of Benjamin as Hendrix. Almost a distant soul of the trailblazing guitar god, Benjamin also has such a close resemblance to the iconic rocker that if Ridley’s story is penned with his usual flair, this film could generate some late season awards heat.
All Is By My Side opens in theaters on September 26, 2014.
Check out the trailer and a clip from Hendrix at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival below: