Bob Marley: One Love Premier at Carib Cinema, An Epic Biopic

by Howard Campbell

Kingston, Jamaica – With anticipation high for the Jamaican premiere of Bob Marley: One Love,  music industry veteran Wayne Jobson believes the movie transcends the normal rock star biopic.

Bob Marley: One Love, which stars British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir as the reggae king, premieres at the Carib cinema on January 23. It is expected to be attended by members of the Marley family.

“This is different from any other rockstar biopic, because the other ones were just about musicians. This one is about an evangelist, which is what Bob is, who used his music to heal people and lift up the world. The biggest music biopic of all time, Bohemian Rhapsody about Freddie Mercury was great, but does not have the spirituality of Bob,” said Jobson.

In addition to Bohemian Rhapsody, there have been similar movies about rock icons Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison of The Doors. Bob Marley: One Love, marketed and distributed by Paramount Pictures, is directed by American Reinaldo Marcus-Green.

It tracks Marley’s life over a two-year span. In December, 1976 when he was shot by gunmen at his Kingston home, to his self-imposed exile in London. Plus, his triumphant return to Jamaica in early 1978 for the One Love Peace Concert.

Marley died in May, 1981 from cancer at age 36 in Miami.

Jobson, a Jamaican whose cousin Diane Jobson was Marley’s lawyer, says the right people are behind the long-awaited movie.

“I am overjoyed that the Bob Marley film finally got made because the whole world knows his music but not many people know the man. They’ve been trying to make this movie for 40 years and a lot of great directors and producers were involved like Oliver Stone, Ron Shelton and the Weinsteins. But I never thought anyone could capture Bob’s magic until I met the director Reinaldo Marcus Green who is coming off of the Academy Award-winning movie King Richard and the brilliant TV show We Own This City,” he stated. “After watching Kingsley Ben Adir play Malcolm X in One Night in Miami, I knew he was the right guy to play Bob. Also I met Lashawn Lynch at the James Bond premier for No Time to Die in London and knew she was the perfect Rita (Marley, Bob’s wife).”

Scenes for Bob Marley: One Love were shot mainly in the United Kingdom. Last year, the Paramount Pictures crew filmed scenes recreating the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston.

The movie officially opens worldwide on February 14.