First-look trailer released for sequel to award-winning film “Wilmington on Fire”

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Filmmaker Christopher Everett has released the first trailer for the sequel to his award-winning 2015 documentary Wilmington on Fire, and has set a tentative release date for Wilmington on Fire II of November 10, 2023.

“That date is very significant because it will mark the 125 years since the Massacre happened in Wilmington,” Everett said. “So that’s the targeted goal, and we’re on track for that.”

Wilmington on Fire II continues the story Everett began in his directorial debut, which chronicles the 1898 Wilmington Massacre. A mob of white supremacists overthrew the duly elected city government, burning black-owned businesses, and killing many black leaders in the only successful coup d’etat in U.S. history. Everett says he had always planned on releasing a follow-up to the first film and was sparked by protests that happened in Wilmington during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing the changes going on in the city.

“I met some great and interesting people over the years, people that were doing things with business development, with home ownership and also grassroots organizing as well,” he said. “I said, ‘You know what, those stories need to be a part of this too!’ We need to see the change of Black Business Development, and we featured Genesis Block, with Tracy and Gerard Newkirk. Also about getting more African-Americans into homeownership, and we talked about that with Brenda Dixon, who has a great program called Get That Deed. We also looked at other grassroots initiatives and community organizing, like the folks that Sokoto House do as well. So really, all of those type of things kind of came forward together and say, You know what, this is ‘Wilmington on Fire’, this is showing the city of Wilmington moving forward.”

Everett says he will spend the next year marketing and promoting the upcoming release of Wilmington on Fire II, and hopes the first-look trailer’s release will build anticipation for the next chapter in his story.

“I love the trailer that we’ve got out there, it really shows the tone, the style,” he said. “You can tell that we stepped up production value a whole lot since the first one. We also have the one-sheet new poster out there as well, which features all the main characters that are in the film. So, the trailer is a very important marketing tool for any film, whether you’re an independent filmmaker like myself, or a $100 to $200 million blockbuster film as well.”

You can click here to visit the Wilmington on Fire website.

You can click here to see the first-look trailer for Wilmington on Fire II.

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