The trailer for the James Brown biopic Get On Up has surfaced with Chadwick Boseman (42) portraying the Godfather of Soul. The two-and-a-half minute clip shows the origins of Brown's career as a legendary performer and bandleader. We see his stint in juvie, a high-speed police chance, childhood flashbacks, his trip to Vietnam, his sexual encounters and more with the tagline: "What you have heard is only the beginning."

The film, due out in August, is helmed by Tate Taylor (The Help) and stars Boseman as well as Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jill Scott, Lennie James , Nick Eversman and Dan Akroyd, among others.

Mick Jagger, one of the producers on the project, spoke with Rolling Stone recently about Boseman's performance. "It's a really hard role to do," he told them. "It would've been safer to take someone from Broadway who had a lot of dancing and singing background. Chad would be the first to tell you, he wasn't a dancer. But after he'd worked for six weeks on it, he immeasurably had become the character."

Check out the trailer for yourself here, and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Join the Discussion