Free State of Jones

Free State of Jones (2016)

Timing: 2:20 (140 min)

6.744/10
1446

6.714/10
18041

6.9/10
68000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 63

Actors and characters

Release date

2016-06-24

Country

China, Korea, United States

Production

Union Investment Partners, STX Films, Bluegrass Films, Vendian Entertainment, IM Global, Huayi Brothers Pictures, Route One Entertainment, Larger Than Life Productions, Rahway Road Productions

Genre

Action, Drama, History, War

Budget

$50 000 000

Revenue

$25 035 950

Website

http://stxmovies.com/freestateofjones/

Director

Gary Ross

Actors

Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell, Jacob Lofland, Sean Bridgers, Brad Carter, Jane McNeill, Gary Grubbs, Christopher Berry
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Gary Ross

Producer

Jon Kilik, Scott Stuber, Gary Ross, Oren Aviv, Robert Simonds, Robin Bissell, Wang Zhonglei, Stuart Ford, Wang Zhongjun, Michael Bassick

Operator

Benoît Delhomme

Composer

Nicholas Britell

Artist

Audition

Debra Zane, Meagan Lewis

Editing

Juliette Welfling, Pamela Martin
All team (103)

• Actor Kensley Keys is the only African American native of Soso (Jones County, Mississippi) who is a descendant of Newton Knight. He played one of the soldiers in the film. By chance, Keys managed to speak with director Gary Ross after filming the battle scene. Moreover, he was similarly connected with Matthew McConaughey during a break in filming, to whom Keys explained why it was so important for him to appear in the film—it’s a story about his family and his hometown.
• In 2016, a document was discovered in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, which was a request from Newton Knight to include him and his men in the Army of the Potomac. The document is dated 1864. Its discovery serves as confirmation of Knight’s claims.
• The battle scenes were filmed in Covington, Louisiana.
• The filmmakers received 7,000 photos and resumes from people wanting to participate as extras.
• The front doors of the police department vehicles read "Free State of Jones".
• Yvonne Smith, a descendant of Newton Knight, appeared as an extra in the film.
• Historian Rudy Leverett, author of "Legend of the Free State of Jones", who attempted to downplay the role of the rebellion and portray Newton Knight as a common bandit in his work, is the great-great-grandson of Amos McLemore, a Confederate Army major tasked with capturing Knight and his followers. McLemore fell by Knight’s hand.
• The floor in the medical tent was covered in blood. The fake blood was diluted with water to increase the coverage area and make the floor look more slippery. Filming had to be done without delay, as the floorboards quickly absorbed the diluted mixture.
• This is the second joint project between Matthew McConaughey and Jacob Lofland after Jeff Nichols’ drama 'Mud' (2012).
• One of the producers stated in an interview that at one point he considered naming the film 'Randy's Free State', but ultimately decided that 'Free State of Jones' sounded better.
• Keri Russell and Christopher Berry previously starred together in Matt Reeves’ sci-fi action film 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' (2014).
• Thomas Murphy and Christopher Berry previously starred together in Steve McQueen’s historical drama '12 Years a Slave' (2013).
• One of the producers confessed in an interview that they initially wanted to make Steve Gomer ( "The Incredible Adventures of Barney the Dinosaur", 1998) the film's director, but he had to decline due to commitments to other projects.
• Brendan Gleeson was supposed to appear in a cameo role in the film, but he was unable to participate in the filming due to commitments to other projects.
• Victoria Bynum, author of the novel "Free State of Jones: The Longest Civil War in Mississippi," played the role of a nurse in the film. She is the one sitting in the medical tent next to a soldier with a shoulder wound, reading Psalm 26 (27 in Masoretic numbering).
• A certain Christopher David McNight, a descendant of Newton Knight, the role played by Matthew McConaughey, appeared in the mass scenes of the film. Knight was McNight's great-great-great-grandfather. McNight, a resident of Lake Charles, Louisiana, heard about the film's shooting and applied to be an extra.
• Actor Kensley Kice is the only African American native of Soso (Jones County, Mississippi) who is a descendant of Newton Knight. He played one of the soldiers in the film. By sheer chance, Kice managed to talk to director Gary Ross after filming the battle scene. Moreover, fate brought him together with Matthew McConaughey during a break in filming, to whom Kice told why it was so important for him to star in this film – it's a story about his family and his homeland.
• The front doors of the Jones County Sheriff's Department vehicles are labeled “Free State of Jones”.
• Historian Rudy Leverett, author of “Legend of the Free State Jones,” who attempted to downplay the rebellion and portray Newton Knight as a common bandit, is the great-great-grandson of Amos McLemore, a Confederate Army major tasked with capturing Knight and his followers. McLemore fell by Knight’s hand.
• One of the producers stated in an interview that at one point he considered naming the film “Free State of Randy,” but ultimately decided that “Free State of Jones” sounded better.
• Keri Russell and Christopher Berry starred together in Matt Reeves' science fiction action film "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014).
• Thomas Murphy and Christopher Berry starred together in Steve McQueen's historical drama "12 Years a Slave" (2013).
• One of the producers once admitted in an interview that they initially wanted Steve Homer ("The Incredible Adventures of Barney the Dinosaur", 1998) to direct the film, but he had to decline due to commitments to other projects.
• Victoria Burnham, the author of the novel "Free State of Jones: The Longest Civil War in Mississippi," played the role of a nurse in the film. She is the one sitting in the medical tent near the soldier with a shoulder wound, reading Psalm 26 (27 in Masoretic numbering).