A.V. CLUB INTERVIEW: Michael Jai White introduces us to The Outlaw Johnny Black…
Michael Jai White’s 2009 cult-classic blaxploitation parody Black Dynamite is one of our most quoted films here at The A.V. Club, and so we were thrilled when he started teasing a new parody film on Twitter at the end of January. That film has since revealed itself to be The Outlaw Johnny Black,a Western parody starring and written by White in his sublimely goofy, joke-a-minute comedy style. Kym Whitley (The Boondocks), Tommy Davidson (In Living Color), and Byron Minns (Adult Swim’s animated Black Dynamite series)—all of whom also appeared in the original Black Dynamite—co-star.We spoke with White about the project the day before it launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and on White’s own Jaigantic Studios site; as he told us in our interview, going the crowdfunding route was a very deliberate choice, part of his vision to bring greater inclusivity and a sense of community to the making of his films.
The A.V. Club: When you first started teasing this project on Twitter, a lot of people, myself included, thought it would be a sequel to Black Dynamite. But that’s not the case.
Michael Jai White: Basically, I think of it as being like Monty Python. It’s the same team doing another parody movie.
AVC: And it’s a parody of spaghetti Westerns?
MJW: I want it to be like the movies I grew up with that had that same ethos of the Western in the ’70s. Movies like Buck And The Preacher. They were family-friendly, and they were a really fun type of film. So it’s a return to that era.
AVC: Did I hear you say it’s going to be family-friendly?
MJW: Yeah, this one’s going to be a lot more family-friendly than its predecessor. [Laughs.] Plus, when you do a Western, it’s about paying loving homage to it. There are moralities and a code in the best Westerns that I think you’re going to have to adhere to if you’re going to step into that genre.
AVC: Do you have the script already written?
MJW: Oh yeah, the script’s been ready for quite some time. People have been very excited about the script; I had several offers to fully finance the movie, but I’ve chosen to do it in a very independent way.
AVC: And you wrote it, then?
MJW: Yes.
AVC: Every time we write about Black Dynamite on our site, the comments are full of people quoting lines from the film. Did you take the same joke-a-minute approach with this script?
MJW: It’s very similar. It’s got that same mindset, as if the creators of that film [Initial trailers for Black Dynamite “credited” the film to a fictional cast, with “all-star running back Ferrante Jones” standing in for White —Ed.] went and did a Western. It’s going to have the same sensibilities and layered humor, where you have the ridiculous and the deep and the outlandish all at the same time, along with the physical humor. I just believe that great humor should be layered, you know? Like a cartoon that appeals to adults and children alike, and everybody takes their own message [from it]. And with Black Dynamite, I did the humor in such a way where there’d be jokes that went over peoples’ heads until the second time they saw it. And it’ll be the same way with Outlaw Johnny Black.
AVC: Can you tell me about the casting that you’ve done already, as much as you can?
MJW: There are some major A-list actors who I want to keep kind of quiet until a specific time. And there are some big names that we’ve agreed not to reveal until the movie comes out, and that’s the way they want it as well.
AVC: Really!
MJW: Yeah! It’ll be a surprise, you know? We’ll have cameos where…
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