With the Eddie Murphy-starring Rudy Ray Moore biopic in the works at Netflix, the time is ripe to rediscover Moore’s great moments in film with Dolemite and its sequel The Human Tornado. The brand-new high-def VOD releases of the action-comedy classics hit VOD July 3!
Disco Godfather, also starring Rudy Ray Moore, releases on the same date on VOD – and it’s never looked better!
Synopsis: Also starring Carol Speed and Julius Carry, the action-crime gem tells of Tucker Williams (Moore), the rapping owner and main attraction of the Blueberry Hill Disco. An ex-cop with a penchant for head-whacking martial arts, Tucker is called back into action when his nephew (Julius J. Carry III) get hooked on angel dust.
Also available, that classic mesh of humor and horror Petey Wheatstraw. Petey Wheatstraw (Rudy Ray Moore) was born during a tropical storm, and from the moment he took his first breath he could walk, talk and kick ass. He grows up to become a famous comedian- so famous that his rivals (Leroy and Skillet) can’t handle the competition and plan to do Petey in.
When Petey is killed in a drive-by, Lucifer ( G. Tito Shaw) offers Petey his life back, along with unearthly powers, if he will marry the Devil’s daughter (Ebony Wright) and produce a son. Petey agrees to the deal but has other plans.
Also hitting HD VOD for the first time on 7/3, Melvin Van Peebles’ original 1971 classic Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.
Synopsis: After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from “the man” with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels in this very early – in fact, it’s widely credited as starting the blackploitation film category – blaxploitation entry.
Also available on HD VOD this July from Xenon Pictures : the Penitentiary franchise, starring Leon Isaac Kennedy, the original black samurai film Death Force, music documentary Welcome to Death Row, action-drama The Muthers, 1973 horror-comedy favorite Blackenstein, and one of the original blaxploitation horror films, Lord Shango.
About Xenon Pictures
Founded in 1986, Xenon Pictures, Inc. is recognized in the U.S. home entertainment marketplace for creating the first significant labels focused on the Black audience market.
In developing the label, Xenon forged relationships with some of the most revolutionary independent film pioneers: Melvin Van Peebles, Rudy Ray Moore, Jamaa Fanaka, Ralph Bakshi and Perry Henzell to name just a few, and sought out films that are not only commercial, but were truly groundbreaking and have maintained their appeal (across ever-broadening audiences) for decades.
Xenon’s most recent film project, “Straight Outta Compton” (the story of the gangster rap group NWA) was produced by Legendary Pictures and released in 2015 through Universal Pictures. It has grossed over $201 million at the box office alone, and Xenon founder Leigh Savidge garnered an Oscar nomination for best screenplay.
After building a global distribution mechanism, Xenon financed and produced definitive biographies on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahalia Jackson and Death Row Records and acquired a library of films from notable Black directors including Melvin Van Peebles, Rudy Ray Moore, Jamma Fanaka, Julie Dash, Tim Story and Robert Townsend. In 2002, the Company added Latin/Spanish content to its focus when it contracted with Mexican media powerhouse Grupo Televisa to create and finance Televisa’s U.S. home entertainment initiative, Televisa Home Entertainment. Over the next eleven years, working with a wide range of Latin/Spanish programming such as classic Spanish language television, top-rated telenovelas and theatrical features, Xenon helped position Televisa as a dominant brand in the home entertainment space.
Today with a library of over 200 titles, Xenon Pictures, Inc. remains one of the few self-distributing media entertainment labels able to offer a full-service distribution platform in North America. The Company looks to acquire a wide range of dynamic independent narrative and documentary feature films that will provoke, excite and inspire consumers seeking content in both the digital and physical disc arenas. The Company’s corporate philosophy can be distilled down to a few simple maxims: innovate, don’t imitate; embrace filmmakers whose actions speak to their goals and finally, listen to what customers and consumers want and find it.
Jason Price founded the mighty Icon Vs. Icon more than a decade ago. Along the way, he’s assembled an amazing group of like-minded individuals to spread the word on some of the most unique people and projects on the pop culture landscape.
