
The film won the grand jury prize and the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival, and Coogler won the “Prix de l’avenir” for emerging directors at the Cannes Film Festival.

While the DV review accused the film of forgoing “nuanced drama for heart-tugging, head-shaking and rabble-rousing,” the LAT deemed it “a remarkable directing debut” and “an outstanding film by any standard,” and the NYT likened Coogler’s shooting style to “the spiritually alert naturalism of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.” Performances were uniformly praised, with particular kudos going to Jordan’s portrayal of the mercurial lead character.įruitvale Station was named one of AFI’s Movies of the Year. According to a USA Today news brief, the film had grossed $15 million to that time.Ĭritical reception was largely positive. A $15 million marketing campaign was set to promote the film’s nationwide platform release.Ī LAT news item reported that the film had earned $1.5 million in limited release, and was expected to take in another $5 million when it expanded to 1,000 theaters in the upcoming weekend. won a bidding war for distribution rights after the film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, paying roughly $2.5 million for North American territories and the right to act as the film’s international sales agent.

The final section of the film was shot at the Fruitvale BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station where Grant’s murder took place, a location that Whitaker helped secure.Īs reported in WSJ, The Weinstein Co. The only scene that was not shot with a handheld camera was the flashback to Oscar’s incarceration at San Quentin State Penitentiary. The production budget was less than $1 million, and principal photography took place over twenty-one days, as stated in the WSJ. The HR announced that actress Octavia Spencer was in negotiations to play the role of “Wanda” and stated that principal photography was scheduled to begin Jul 2012 in Northern CA. Many scenes in the film were based on events relayed in courtroom transcripts however, Coogler invented the scene involving the stray dog and other events that took place while Grant was alone during the day. Also, because Grant’s murder occurred in the early morning of New Year’s Day, and Grant’s mother’s birthday was on New Year’s Eve, the time frame allowed Coogler to focus on Oscar’s family life and incorporate the concept of “New Year’s resolutions” and self-improvement. Īccording to an article in the WSJ, Coogler was inspired to limit his story to the day leading up to Oscar Grant’s murder by other films that took place over short periods of time, including Gus Van Sant’s Elephant (2003, see entry) and Spike Lee’s 25th Hour (2002, see entry) and Do the Right Thing (1989, see entry). One month before filming began, Jordan also spent time with Grant’s family and friends in the Bay Area, as noted in a LAT article.Īccording to an article in the WSJ, Coogler was inspired to limit his story to the day leading up to Oscar Grant’s murder by other films that took place over short periods of time, including Gus Van Sant’s Elephant (2003, see entry) and Spike Lee’s 25th Hour (2002, see entry) and Do the Right Thing (1989, see entry).

Jordan in mind, partly due to his resemblance to Grant. He wrote the lead role with actor Michael B. Coogler began researching the story by reading public records, court depositions, and eventually meeting Oscar Grant’s friends and family.
#Supermarket mania 2 apunk movie
In their first meeting, Whitaker and Coogler discussed feature film ideas amongst other potential projects, Coogler proposed a film about Oscar Grant’s murder at Fruitvale, and Whitaker agreed to produce the movie on the spot. At the time, Coogler was a graduate student in the film program at University of Southern California. Producer Forest Whitaker first met writer-director Ryan Coogler after Whitaker’s partner, producer Nina Yang Bongiovi, brought one of Coogler’s short films to his attention. An HR news item referred to the film by its working title, Fruitvale.
