June 9: Film Based on Tina Turner’s Life Story Was Released on This Date in 1993

0 Posted by - June 9, 2022 - BLACK MUSIC, LATEST POSTS, On This Date

By Victor Trammell

Photo credits: 20th Century Fox

Film director Brian Gibson’s What’s Love Got to Do With It? is a movie predicated on the life of multi-platinum recording artist Tina Turner.

Kate Lanier wrote the screenplay for this motion picture. The film stars legendary actress Angela Bassett, who portrays Tina Turner. Veteran actor Laurence Fishburne portrays the star singer’s husband, Ike Turner. Adapted from Tina Turner’s autobiography I, Tina (1986), the film chronicles her life’s good, bad, and ugly elements.

It starts with a depiction of her humble beginnings in a small rural southern town.

The story of her ascension to mainstream notoriety is also shown, as well as episodes of her rocky, high-profile, and Hollywood-covered marriage to musician Ike Turner. Gibson’s What’s Love Got to Do with It first debuted at an invite-only theatre premiere in Los Angeles, California on June 6, 1993.

Although Tina Turner and Ike Turner had complaints about the authenticity of the director’s depictions of the real-life story, it got critically acclaimed. Gibson’s biopic project was also a box office hit job. The film’s gross surpassed $61 million dollars in ticket sales and only had a $15 million dollar budget.

In earnest return with their theatrical work starring in the film, Bassett and Fishburne garnered a nomination apiece during the televised 66th Academy Awards. The pair’s Oscar nomination categories were for Best Actress and Best Actor. The film was theatrically released to the general viewing public by Touchstone Pictures on June 25, 1993.

In addition, Bassett nabbed a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

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