Stars, director snap movie preliminaries on steps of Buffalo City Hall

By Susan Schulman | News Staff Reporter, on May 20, 2016 – 7:41 PM, updated May 20, 2016 at 8:39 PM

The steps outside Buffalo City Hall became a pre-movie set Friday afternoon, with Hollywood actors Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad starting work on the Thurgood Marshall movie being filmed in Buffalo.

While the actual shoot is scheduled to start Monday, still photos of the actors in full costume were taken by the movie crew.

Boseman plays attorney and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in the movie, while Gad plays fellow attorney Sam Friedman.

The two were seen Friday talking with the movie’s director Reginald Hudlin.

The actors and crew weren’t talking with the media Friday, or posing for picture, hoping to keep things under wraps until a press conference either this weekend or Monday to officially announce filming details.

However, word leaked out that the cast and crew needed to get still photos Friday for a scene to be shot later.

The movie depicts the life of Marshall, American’s first African-American Supreme Court justice.

Much of the filming will be done in downtown buildings, including the Statler Hotel and the former Dillon federal courthouse.

Filming is expected to continue through at least the beginning of July.

‘People v OJ’ Actress Keesha Sharp to Play Chadwick Boseman’s Wife in Thurgood Marshall Biopic (Exclusive)

By Thom Geier on May 17, 2016 @ 4:06 pm

Reginald Hudlin is directing the courtroom drama “Marshall,” which co-stars Josh Gad and Sterling K. Brown

Keesha Sharp is joining her “People v. OJ Simpson” co-star Sterling K. Brown, as well as Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad, in “Marshall,” a biopic about Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, TheWrap has exclusively learned.

Reginald Hudlin will direct from a script by attorney Michael Koskoff and his son Jacob Koskoff. Hero Films is financing the project, which Paula Wagner is producing under her Chestnut Ridge Productions banner.

Before he reprises his “Captain America: Civil War” role of Black Panther, Boseman will play another hero — young lawyer Thurgood Marshall, who’s tasked with defending an African American man (Brown) accused of the rape and attempted murder of a wealthy white woman in Connecticut.

Marshall’s career-defining case, which helped set the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement, is set against a backdrop of Northern racism and anti-Semitism as the U.S. prepares to enter World War II.

Sharp will play Marshall’s wife, Buster.

The film, which boasts the support of Marshall’s family, will start production this month in Buffalo, New York.

Sharp recently parlayed her turn as Johnnie Cochran’s supportive wife in FX’s acclaimed miniseries “American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson” into a regular role as Damon Wayans’ wife on Fox’s new “Lethal Weapon” TV series. She’s represented by Abrams Artist Agency and Genesis Entertainment.

Kate Hudson, Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens Will Join “Marshall” Movie Set in 1940

by Roger Friedman – May 13, 2016 9:14 pm

EXCLUSIVE That movie about a young Thurgood Marshall helping in the defense of a wrongly accused black man of rape in 1940? “Marshall” already features Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, and James Cromwell.

But now I can tell you I’ve heard two more names added to director Reginald Hudlin’s cast: Kate Hudson and Dan Stevens, the former Matthew Crawley of Downton Abbey fame.

I thought I’d have a personal inside route to this film because Gad is playing my own real life great uncle Samuel Friedman when he was in his late thirties. Alas, this film is like any other– getting casting scoops is actually harder than ever!

I’m excited that Hudson, who has an Oscar nomination from “Almost Famous” in 2000, finally has a substantial role. She’s an excellent actress. This could be a big deal for her. Stevens has also looked for a major part since leaving “Downton Abbey.”

Paula Wagner is producing, and I’m told a pair of brothers– Hunter Ryan and David Ryan– have joined the team as producers.

The story is true– a wealthy socialite named Eleanor Strubing (Hudson) accused her black chauffeur Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown) of rape. Sam Friedman (Gad) took the case to defend Spell. The NAACP sent a young Thurgood Marshall (Boseman) to help with the case. Stevens will play the prosecutor.

You can read about the case here. Filming begins next month in Buffalo, New York.

‘People V. O.J. Simpson’s Sterling K. Brown Back In Court For ‘Marshall’

by Erik Pedersen, May 4, 2016 5:53pm

EXCLUSIVE: The actor who played prosecutor Christopher Darden in FX’s The People v O.J. Simpson now is going to play a high-profile defendant. Sterling K. Brown has been cast in Marshall, director Reginald Hudlin’s biopic starring Chadwick Boseman as former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Brown will play Joseph Spell, an itinerant worker newly relocated from Louisiana to Connecticut, where he is accused of the rape and attempted murder of a wealthy Greenwich socialite. The sensational 1941 trial brought a young Marshall, counsel for a struggling NAACP, to Bridgeport, CT, where he teamed with young Jewish lawyer Sam Friedman (Josh Gad) to defend Spell. The trial is set against a background of Northern racism and anti-Semitism.

Along with his starring role in The People v O.J. Simpson, Brown recently wrapped the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Split and co-stars in 36, Dan Fogelman’s off-cycle dramedy pilot for NBC that continues to be featured high on the list of series hopefuls. Repped by Innovative Artists and JWS Entertainment, he also is starring in Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), which runs through May 15 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

Marshall is being financed by Super Hero Films with Paula Wagner producing through her Chestnut Ridge Productions. Production kicks off this month in Buffalo, NY.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/filming-of-marshall-brings-a-benefit-to-buffalo-landmark/213932496