The groundbreaking film directed by Gordon Parks in 1972, New York, has recently been remade in Atlanta.
This location was selected for this year’s Superfly by Director X, who is also responsible for directing Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and Kendrick Lamar’s “King Kunta.”
“In 1971, Harlem was widely regarded as the cultural capital of the black community. According to what he says in the promotional video for the show,
“It was really what Atlanta is today.” Big Boi, an actor, has been quoted as saying, “As for style and influence and culture, Atlanta’s got the juice right now.”
Director X and his team obtained Rick Ross’s massive 12-bedroom estate (which stands on 235 acres in Fayetteville, Georgia) as the base for the opponents, the Snow Patrol.
This was done to ensure that the production design matched the setting. Since 2014, Ross has been the owner of the estate formerly known as Villa Vittoriosa (also known as “Victory”), which belonged to Evander Holyfield.
The repossessed Georgian-style estate was purchased by Ross for a total of $5.8M. In addition to its 350,000-gallon pool, it has 109 gst rooms, some of which include bowling alleys and theaters with capacities of 135 and 135 guests respectively.
Graham “Grace” Walker, who served as the production designer for Superfly, was the one responsible for transforming the estate into a film set. It was very much like him.
There were oversized portraits of Rick Ross and gold records strewn over the place, and the atmosphere was quite rapper-y, if that’s even a word.
I’m referring to literally thousands upon thousands of trinkets and other such things. The table in the dining room had been meticulously and exquisitely arranged with a variety of exquisite plates and cutlery.
It was quite pricey merchandise.” He goes on to say, “The moment you walk in the front door, you would be forgiven for thinking that you had just walked onto the set of Scarface.”
There is an enormous staircase leading down both sides of the building. It was entirely made of marble, and you found yourself asking, “Oh my God, where are we now?”
