TV Talk: Filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Rustin’ lands release date

“Rustin,” the bio-pic from former President Barack Obama’s and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, will debut on Netflix on Nov. 17.

Directed by George C. Wolfe, who previously helmed 2020’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in Western Pennsylvania, “Rustin” stars Colman Domingo, who was a cast member in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, the architect of 1963’s March on Washington, which celebrates its 60th anniversary Aug. 28.

The film shot in Western Pennsylvania in the fall of 2021 and at one point sought to hire 2,000 extras.

With a screenplay by Julian Breece (“When They See Us”) and Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”), “Rustin” also stars Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, CCH Pounder, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Audra McDonald, Jeffrey Wright and Adrienne Warren.

Born in 1912, Rustin worked as a close adviser to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Aml Ameen) as a proponent of nonviolent protest. Rustin, a gay man, was the driving force behind the organization of the 1963 March on Washington before later in life shifting toward LGBTQ+ activism, bringing the AIDS crisis to the attention of the NAACP. Rustin died in 1987.

Given that Netflix is holding the film until November (rather than releasing it in August on the actual anniversary of the March on Washington), it’s a sure sign the streaming service hopes the movie will garner end-of-year consideration for awards, including the Oscars, Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.