Billie Holiday is defiant in the face of government threats in the trailer for The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
Hulu announced on Monday it acquired the rights to the film, which stars singer-songwriter Andra Day in her feature film debut. The United States vs. Billie Holiday was originally slated to be released by Paramount in theaters before the streamer picked up the film.
The biopic is directed by Lee Daniels and the screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks.
“I do hope our celebration of this complex woman does justice to a great musical legend and civil rights activist whose artistry resonates as well today, as it did 80 years ago,” Daniels stated in a press release.
The film was inspired by Johann Hari’s book “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.”
Here’s the official description of the movie: “Beginning in the 1940s in New York City, the federal government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to escalate and racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial and heart-wrenching ballad, ‘Strange Fruit.'”
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The drama also touches on Holiday’s complicated relationship with federal agent Jimmy Fletcher (Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes), who was a confidant of the “I’ll Be Seeing You” singer.
Joining Day and Rhodes in the cast are Natasha Lyonne, Garrett Hedlund, Miss Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Evan Ross, Tyler James Williams, Tone Bell, and Erik LaRay Harvey.
The United States vs. Billie Holiday premieres Feb. 26 on Hulu.
Watch the trailer below:
