Jesse Brown: Last News

When people talk about fighter pilot movies from the past year, many will probably think about “Top Gun: Maverick.” And though that film is great, there’s another fighter pilot film out now that might actually be, dare I say, better? That movie is “Devotion,” directed by J.D. Dillard.

When people talk about fighter pilot movies from the past year, many will probably think about “Top Gun: Maverick.” And though that film is great, there’s another fighter pilot film out now that might actually be, dare I say, better? That movie is “Devotion,” directed by J.D. Dillard.

Angelique Jackson If it seems like Jonathan Majors is everywhere lately, that’s because he has been. Michael B. Jordan shared the first official look of Majors as boxer Damian “Dame” Anderson in “Creed III” on Monday morning, but Variety caught up with the actor over the weekend at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala and the Newport Beach Film Festival honors. When the topic of his whirlwind few months came up, Majors summed it up simply: “It’s just the season,” he told Variety’s Angelique Jackson at Newport Beach on Sunday. Well, it certainly has been Majors’ season. The actor was honored at the festival with an Artist of Distinction award for his role in “Devotion,” in which he portrays pioneering fighter pilot Jesse Brown, the Navy’s first Black aviator. Following that part, the actor has a stacked slate of films in the works, including his eagerly-anticipated arrival as Kang the Conqueror in Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” due out in February.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic African American boxing champ Muhammad Ali famously refused to fight for his country, justifying himself with the oft-quoted quip, “No Viet Cong ever called me n—–.” That’s one-half of American history, and an important one. “Devotion” tells the other, presenting the story of a Black pilot so determined to defend — and die for, if need be — the United States that he was willing to endure institutional bigotry to become the Jackie Robinson of the skies: Jesse Brown, the first aviator of color to complete the Navy’s basic training program. A square but satisfying social justice drama set against the backdrop of the Korean War, “Devotion” impressed on the biggest screen possible at the Toronto Film Festival two months before its Nov. 23 theatrical release. Featuring elements of both “Green Book” and “Red Tails,” the film is more than just a stirring case of Black exceptionalism; it also celebrates the one white officer who had Brown’s back, Tom Hudner, treating the bond these two men formed as something exceptional unto itself. Director JD Dillard dazzles with see-it-in-Imax airborne sequences, but the meat of the film focuses on the friendship between Brown (“Da 5 Bloods” star Jonathan Majors) and his white wingman, played by Glen Powell, the “Hidden Figures” actor who most recently appeared in “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Director  JD Dillard says he grew up hearing all about his own father’s  experiences as the second African American Blues Angels pilot, so naturally when Adam Makos’ book, Devotion came out he was instantly intrigued about adapting to the screen. The book tells the story of the friendship and, yes, devotion (where the title comes from in part) of two elite US Navy fighter pilots who made a big difference in one of the Korean War’s most intense battles in the early 1950’s.  But the story has great significance as it really tells the extraordinary tale of Jesse Brown who became the first Black  aviator in Navy history, and together with his unique friendship and working relationship with Tom Hudner the pair became legend as authentic Navy wingmen heroes.

Jonathan Majors jokes around with Glen Powell during a military event in the new trailer for their upcoming movie, Devotion.

Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell are taking off in the official trailer for “Devotion,” the new drama set to release this Thanksgiving.Based on the nonfiction book by Adam Makos, “Devotion” focuses on the military careers of Jesse Brown (Majors) and Tom Hudner (Powell), two elite Navy fighter pilots who served during the Korean War. In spite of the racism that Brown experiences as one of the first Black aviators, he forms a close camaraderie with the white Hudner, and the two go on to work together as wingmen in several battles, including the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.Along with Majors and Powell, “Devotion” also stars Christina Jackson, Joe Jonas and Thomas Sadoski. J.D.

EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Majors is set to star in The Man In My Basement, the film adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel. Majors will also serve as an executive producer, under his Tall Street Productions banner. Protagonist Pictures will fully finance and cameras are expected to roll in the fall. Nadia Latif will make her directorial debut on the film.

EXCLUSIVE: Serinda Swan is set to play a young Elizabeth Taylor in Black Label Media’s war movie Devotion, which also stars Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell and Christina Jackson. Joe Jonas and Thomas Sadorski were also recently set to join the cast. Sleight director J.D. Dillard will direct.

Joe Jonas is returning to acting in the upcoming war film Devotion, Deadline reports!

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s some hot casting. Joe Jonas and Thomas Sadoski (John Wick) are joining the cast of big-budget war movie Devotion, which is due to get underway next month in the state of Georgia.

EXCLUSIVE: The Good Fight and Outsiders actress Christina Jackson has been cast as the female lead in big-budget war movie Devotion, which is due to get underway next month in the state of Georgia.

Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell have signed on to star in a Korean War movie called Devotion, according to Deadline.