*The story of a sad, sad family hits the big screen today. “Death at a Funeral,” starring Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, and Martin Lawrence, opens in theaters nationwide.
Rock, who co-produced the film, stars as Aaron who is in charge of planning and organizing his father’s funeral and welcomes home relatives and family friends amid a mortuary mix-up.
“Death at a Funeral,” is a remake of the 2007 British film of the same title that had Rock rolling. So the comedian brought a fresh cast to breathe new life into the hilarious comedy.
“I saw the movie in an art house; in a little theater with 10 people,” Rock recalled. “To me, it felt like a pop movie. I thought, ‘Why is it in an art house?’ Me and the other 10 people were laughing our asses off. It was amazing.”
Rock continued that the great storyline and the make-up of an ensemble cast is just the formula for a box office hit.
“You watch a lot of the movies out right now, we’re not doing a lot of one-guy comedy right now,” he said. “A lot of things are collaborations. Movies like ‘Date Night’ and ‘The Hangover’- there are a bunch of people. There were a lot of funny parts, and was perfect and for me-not having to carry a whole movie, and also I thought it was something that a studio might be into.”
Rock helped recruit most of the cast, Lawrence in particular.
“Once we got Martin, it was another movie,” he said.
“”He called me personally,” Lawrence said, “and then he sent me the British version and I thought it was very funny. I said I had to be on board. We would see each other every year and talk about working together. We just finally got a chance to do a movie together and that’s because he put it together.”
For the third of the funnyman trifecta, Morgan said that he fell right in line with the other comedy all-stars.
“What made me want to do it was Chris and Martin,” he said. “Just to be sharing space with these guys was great.”
The three actors were just the start to the stellar cast. The film also stars Zoe Saldana, Loretta Divine, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, James Marsden, Kevin Hart, Columbus Short, and Luke Wilson. Rock commented that though the mixed cast is made up of a black majority, he shuns the label “black comedy” or the description of a black remake.
“It’s me, Martin, and Tracy. Can you name three white comedians that more white people would come see? If I said no black people can go see me [premiere night] in L.A., I would still sell more tickets than any white guy,” he said. “I consider myself a comedian. I’m a black man and I’m down for the struggle, but I’m a comedian. It’s not a movie for a certain amount of people.”
“I think we made an American family movie,” he continued. “Despite the ‘R,’ I think this is a movie you could see with all your whole family. This is a movie for everybody. We’ve got a great cast – black, white. All of the black people that are not in a Tyler Perry movie right now are in this movie. If you like it, please spread the word.”
“Death at a Funeral” opens today in theaters nationwide. For more on the cast and the film, go to www.sonypictures.com.
Watcvh the trailer for ‘Death At A Funeral’: