Despite receiving low scores from critics in several international publications, Jamaican fans flocked to theaters on the island to catch the first glimpse of Paramount’s “Bob Marley: One Love” biopic. Palace Amusement’s flagship location for the movie theater chain, Carib, listed the film as “Souled Out” on February 14, playing on words to express the atmosphere in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Valentine’s Day release of the movie starring Kingsley Ben Adir and Lashana Lynch marks a return to the theaters for Jamaicans after the company faced low ticket sales and reduced profits over the past four years due to the pandemic.
The film which Paramount’s CEO said employed over 2000 Jamaicans for cast and production is out now in most countries and will debut on February 22 in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. It will release on February 23 in Indonesia, March 13 in the Philippines, March 14 in Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, March 15 in Taiwan and Vietnam, and May 10 in Japan.
Patrons from around the world who saw the film on opening day have taken to Twitter to share their feedback and audience reviews under the hashtag #onelovemovie.
One person tweeted, “In other news… the #OneLoveMovie was top tier, beautiful, the chemistry between Lashana and Kingsley was amazing… the movie was beautiful & yes my eyes watered a bit… I may go see it again.”
Another said, “#OneLoveMovie was so tastefully done! Such a refreshing movie, thank you!”
One person compared it to “Ray,” starring Jamie Foxx.
First off IMO I haven’t seen a movie biopic as good as #OneLoveMovie, since Ray. Which stared Jamie Foxx.
— Kasanova ⚔️ (@OceanMula) February 15, 2024
Podcaster Jai Frais, after watching the film overseas, has sided with critics who rate the movie with a low score, putting out a video questioning Ziggy Marley, saying, “what kinda movie is this bredda, this is worse than my Shenseea interview,” referencing the backlash he received for conducting a tamed interview with the dancehall princess a few weeks ago.
Despite the mix reactions from patrons, the film is already having a ripple effect on Marley’s music catalog as his albums occupy the top four slots on the iTunes Reggae Chart.
Two versions of “Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley and The Wailers” are at No. 1 and 2, and “Exodus,” which is at the heart of the film, occupies the No. 3 and 4 slots.
Other Marley albums in the top the include “Gold,” at No. 6, “Survival (2013 Remastered),” at No. 7 and “Kaya (2013 Remastered” at No. 8.
“Legend” is also No. 8 on the sales driven U.S. iTunes Chart (all genres), No. 6 in Canada and No. 5 in the UK.
The entered top ten of the Reggae iTunes singles chart is occupied Bob Marley album including the No. 3 single where Bob is credited as writer on YG Marley’s “Praise Jah In The Moonlight” which samples the single “Crisis.”
