New Jack City is the classic 1991 crime drama helmed by Mario Van Peebles. The movie has retained the status of a cultural touchstone in its genre, remarked upon for its portrayal of the then-ongoing crack cocaine epidemic in New York City.
Equally so, it had unforgettable performances, especially from Wesley Snipes as the ruthless drug lord Nino Brown. It enjoyed a cult following through the years and remains a potential candidate for reboots or sequels.
Currently, there is a rumor that a reboot is underway for Netflix, reportedly starring Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali. However, both these claims are not true.
These are just rumors because Netflix or the producers behind the film did not come up with an official announcement. Indeed, a New Jack City reboot was announced in 2019 written by Malcolm M. Mays, though details are very scarce at this point, and it's not scheduled for release in 2024.
The original screenwriter, Barry Michael Cooper, even spoke of a prequel/sequel entitled The Diary of Nino Brown: The Monster Reagan Created.
Amidst all the noise, Wesley Snipes has spoken up about the original film being better off left as it is, due to its cultural relevance and what it has done for the furtherance of film history.
With that in the air, the future of New Jack City remains unclear but interesting.
Was New Jack City based on a true story?
No, New Jack City is not entirely a true story per se. However, it is important to note that it does borrow elements from actual events and social issues prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. It was particularly inspired by the crack cocaine epidemic that swept through urban communities during that time.
The screenplay of the film, co-written by Barry Michael Cooper and Thomas Lee Wright, was an adaption from several sources: Cooper's reporting on an investigation into the drug war in Detroit. It also drew on the story of Nicky Barnes, a real-life drug kingpin who patterned his criminal organization in Harlem after that of the Mafia.
The gritty portrayal of the film, along with its rise and fall of a drug lord, points to the harsh realities visited upon those caught in this very cycle of poverty and crime. It is a story that complicates things beyond stereotypes with multi-dimensional characters.
Each of them has their reasons and their problems, so much so that the problem lies with power, corruption, and devastations entailed by drug trading.
If the exact events that are shown in New Jack City are fiction, then it makes a very loud social statement for the movie on how unjust it is and the system that perpetuates this drug crisis.
New Jack City doesn't pull away from anything, not even showing its rather pointed portrayal of how drugs demolish lives and vandalize whole communities. It also raises questions about finding solutions to the drug problem.
What happens in New Jack City?
New Jack City follows the life and drug empire built by Nino Brown, played by Wesley Snipes. He is a ruthless drug lord who came to power at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic that swept through 1980s New York City. Nino and his posse, Cash Money Brothers, or CMB, take over the Carter apartment complex.
They then evicted the tenants and carved out their crack house. As Nino's power keeps growing in New Jack City, a detective named Scotty Appleton tries his best to bring him down. Appleton attempts to gain an informant from within Nino's gang, a former junkie/drug addict named Pookie.
But the plan backfires and Pookie is murdered. Undaunted, Appleton goes undercover with his partner Nick Peretti to gather enough evidence against Nino. New Jack City then goes on to show all the brutal ways that Nino uses to maintain his power, which includes murder and force.
The film also describes several personal details of the characters; some of these personal details include information about Nino's affair with Selina and the tension between Appleton and Peretti.
The final confrontation has Appleton pitted against Nino, who confesses that he murdered his mother many years ago during a gang initiation.
Nino is arrested and brought to court, only to be met with his attempt to shift the entire blame on his cousin Kareem, played by Christopher Williams. However, Nino gets killed outside the courthouse by an old man seeking revenge, and so his empire of crime comes to an end.
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New Jack City is streaming now with a subscription on Paramount+, available for rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, and Apple TV, and available for purchase at Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or Apple TV.
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