It’s the tip of an period. Nearly 25 years after introducing us to the well-known “Black Pack,” the “Best Man” solid are saying goodbye to their iconic franchise with Peacock’s “The Final Chapters.” It’s really been a journey for Harper (Taye Diggs), Lance (Morris Chestnut), Jordan (Nia Long), Robyn (Sanaa Lathan), Shelby (Melissa De Sousa), Quentin (Terrence Howard), Candace (Regina Hall), and Murch (Harold Perrineau), however their progress from Malcolm D. Lee’s 1999 movie to 2013’s “The Best Man Holiday” to their new restricted sequence has been a pleasure to observe.
“My solely intention was to make a film that stood the take a look at of time and can be thought of a traditional.”
“The Final Chapters,” which premieres on Dec. 22, catches up with the “Best Man” crew and their unfinished enterprise one final time, following the group of now-40-somethings as they navigate midlife crises, grief, altering relationships, and the woes of the world of their older years. But the actual full-circle second for this grand reunion is Harper’s notorious bestselling novel “Unfinished Business,” aka the supply of most of his drama, being was a film adaptation greater than 20 years after its debut (sure, the franchise continues to be maintaining with the occasions within the age of reboots and book-to-movie inspiration).
Although many followers think about Peacock’s eight-episode sequence a bittersweet farewell to their favourite Blassic, the “Best Man” solid say they did not shed too many tears over the tip of the franchise. “I feel it is completely different [for us],” Chestnut tells POPSUGAR. “If you will have a long-running TV present the place you are seeing one another daily, eight months a yr, it is a little bit completely different as a result of we [reunite], have a niche, [reunite], have a niche, so it has been numerous enjoyable working with household, however I feel we’re good with the way it’s ending.”
Hall, who made her movie debut in “The Best Man” as Candace, agrees. “You gotta keep in mind, we did not understand it was going to be a franchise, so we’re simply grateful for each time we get to [reunite],” she says. When “The Best Man” creator Lee launched his debut movie again in 1999, he had no concept it’d flip right into a cult-classic franchise both. “It wasn’t my intention,” he says. “My solely intention was to make a film that stood the take a look at of time and can be thought of a traditional. I wished these characters to be impactful and indelible, and we did that with the primary film.” Even the 2013 sequel got here as a shock, as a result of Lee did not anticipate followers nonetheless being invested in his characters’ tales. But 23 years later, the “Final Chapters” co-showrunner considers himself and the solid “very lucky that audiences nonetheless react the best way they do to them.”
Before the announcement of “The Final Chapters,” many believed the “Best Man” franchise would proceed with a 3rd movie centered on Quentin’s nuptials teased on the finish of its vacation sequel, which was additionally Lee’s authentic plan — along with a fourth film. But with the growth of restricted sequence in TV land, the director says the celebrities aligned to provide “The Best Man” a extra correct sendoff. “We may very well be extra expansive with our storytelling,” he says of making the sequence versus one other film. “The Final Chapters” provides “the actors some surroundings to chew” with “the precise finances that may entice them to come back again,” Lee provides.
“For me, it was vital as a girl, as a Black lady, becoming a member of Malcolm on this leg of the franchise. I wished to essentially dig into the ladies.”
One method the sequence takes the franchise’s storytelling to the following stage is by highlighting its robust solid of girls and their tales, which traditionally have not gotten as a lot consideration. “For me, it was vital as a girl, as a Black lady, becoming a member of Malcolm on this leg of the franchise. I wished to essentially dig into the ladies,” co-showrunner Dayna Lynne North says of getting tapped for the present. “Because I felt like that they had been extra so counterparts to the lads within the earlier iterations of the story, and I used to be actually curious to see when the ladies get collectively, what does it seem like?”
“We know in regards to the iconic card video games, however what do the ladies do once they hang around?” she continues. “I wished to know with Candace, with Shelby, with Robyn, what are these arcs going to seem like once they get to a degree of their midlife metamorphosis? That’s what was actually vital to me. Making positive these arcs felt as full and three-dimensional as Harper, Quentin, Murch, and [Lance].”
“Great storytelling, actual individuals, real-life experiences, the highs, the lows, the births, deaths, issues, these are issues we are able to all relate to, and it is a tradition.”
Refreshing storytelling is likely one of the most important causes the “Best Man” franchise has stood the take a look at of time. In addition to its “correct portrayals” of Black individuals, per Diggs, Long says “honesty” has so much to do with the franchise’s legacy. “We’re actual individuals,” she says. “Great storytelling, actual individuals, real-life experiences, the highs, the lows, the births, deaths, issues, these are issues we are able to all relate to, and it is a tradition. It’s a cultural expertise that is tremendous relatable and timeless.”
Though this can be the tip of the highway for the franchise as we all know it, it definitely will not be the final time we see nice Black storytelling on display screen. “This is just the start of the following model,” Howard notes. “Next story, we construct it up and see what occurs. I’m simply hoping that the era that was influenced by it’s going to outdo it. I’m hoping that the actors that come up behind us will make the stuff we did seem like it was simply idiot’s play.”
All eight episodes of “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” start streaming on Peacock on Dec. 22.
Image Source: Peacock