‘Just Mercy’ star Jamie Foxx wins award ahead of wide release

Michael B. Jordan (L) and Jamie Foxx in “Just Mercy”. Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment via AFP Relaxnews

A four-theater Dec. 25 opening for death row drama “Just Mercy” will expand in early January, after co-star Jamie Foxx receives a Spotlight Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) on Jan. 2, 2020.

Based on the true story of innocent death row prisoner Walter McMillian and his lawyer Bryan Stevenson, “Just Mercy” recounts the career of Stevenson, a Harvard graduate, who rejected high-flying posts in preference for a life in Alabama, representing those who could not afford legal advocates.

It opened on Christmas Day in just four theaters but is set to roll out domestically and globally in the new year — a wider release in the United States from Jan. 10, and in international territories over the course of the following weeks.

By then, Foxx will be in possession of a Spotlight Award from the PSIFF, received in recognition for his performance as McMillian.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez of “Hustlers” is to receive the festival’s other Spotlight accolade.

Also appearing in “Just Mercy” are actor-producer Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther”, “Creed”) as Bryan Stevenson, Brie Larson (“Captain Marvel”, “Room”, “The Glass Castle”), Tim Blake Nelson (TV’s “Watchmen”), Rafe Spall (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (“Straight Outta Compton”) and Rob Morgan (“Stranger Things” seasons 1 to 3).

The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton of “The Glass Castle”, “Short Term 12” and Marvel’s upcoming “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, as well as HBO’s undated episodic crime thriller “Tokyo Vice”.

Foxx and Lopez join eight other actors and actresses already named for awards recognition at California’s annual Palm Springs festival, those being Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), Zack Gottsagen (“The Peanut Butter Falcon”), Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”), Laura Dern (“Marriage Story” and “Little Women”) and Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”).

Martin Scorsese is to receive the PSIFF’s Sonny Bono Visionary Award for “The Irishman.” RGA

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