John Legend to Play Belafonte in 'The Road Home'
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- John Legend has been cast as Harry Belafonte in Bill Condon's apartheid-era drama 'The Road Home,' joining Thabo Rametsi (as Masekela), Guy Pearce, Cynthia Erivo and Johnny Flynn (as Paul Simon).
- The film dramatizes Masekela's split with mentor Archbishop Trevor Huddleston (Pearce) when the Anti-Apartheid Movement boycotted Simon's 'Graceland' album for allegedly violating the UN Cultural Boycott, with Masekela then joining Miriam Makeba (Erivo) to form the Graceland band.
- Legend called Belafonte his "friend, mentor and collaborator in the struggle for justice" and said Belafonte "set a standard" for him and other activist-artists.
- Principal photography is underway in South Africa, with the first image of Rametsi as Masekela released earlier this week.
- The screenplay is by Michael Bronner from a story by Bronner and South African writer Zakes Mda; Bronner conducted in-depth interviews with Paul Simon, and the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation provided institutional guidance.
- Veteran music producer Hilton Rosenthal is co-producer and producing new recordings from the Masekela-Makeba catalogue; Rosenthal also supported Simon during the original 'Graceland' album and secured music rights to Simon's work.
- Studiocanal is financing the film with Flora Films and Rob Bath, and will distribute in South Africa, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Benelux, Poland, Australia and New Zealand; Palisades Park Pictures handles international sales in the rest of the world.
Why it matters: The film centers the real-life Graceland boycott controversy — Paul Simon's album accused of violating the UN Cultural Boycott — inside Masekela's story, with the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation contributing to the script and Studiocanal financing plus nine-territory distribution committing major studio resources to a politically charged biopic starring a chart-topping social-justice-aligned actor.
