Bob Marley: One Love

Bob Marley: One Love is a 2024 American biographical drama musical film based on the life of reggae singer and songwriter Bob Marley, played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, from his rise to fame in the mid-1970s up until his death in 1981. The film is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, who co-wrote the screenplay with Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, and Zach Baylin. It also stars Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley, and James Norton as Chris Blackwell.

Bob Marley: One Love premiered at the Carib 5 in Kingston, Jamaica on January 23, 2024, and was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on February 14, 2024. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $179 million worldwide.

Plot
In 1976, amidst armed political conflict that is affecting daily life in Jamaica, Bob Marley announces he will perform at a concert, Smile Jamaica, promoting peace amongst the warring factions. While preparing for the concert, Marley, his wife Rita, and several other members of his band are shot by assailants. Rita and Marley are hospitalized, but survive and recover from their injuries in time for the concert. After performing, Marley, saddened that his own countrymen would try to kill him and his wife, shows the crowd his bullet wounds before walking off stage. He tells Rita to take their children to Delaware in the United States and stay with his mom, as he and the rest of his band venture to London.

After struggling to come up with a new album concept, Marley asks Rita to rejoin him and the band in England, and taking inspiration from the soundtrack of the film Exodus and their own situation, he and the band begin recording what would become their album of the same name. The album becomes a hit and helps further popularize reggae music and the Rastafari movement around the world. When the recording company schedules a tour in Europe, Marley also aims for stops throughout Africa to inspire the people there. This leads to friction with Rita as she and Marley argue about his responsibilities and both his and Rita's infidelities, in addition to having given up on promoting peace back in Jamaica. Marley also gets into an altercation with manager Don Taylor over a financial dispute.

After a toenail infection raises concern from Rita and his record producer Chris Blackwell, Marley is later diagnosed with a rare skin cancer. Blackwell confronts Marley about treatment choices, reluctantly dismissed by a firm Marley. Faced with his own mortality, Marley reconciles with Rita and Taylor and finally decides to return to Jamaica in 1978, where he is welcomed back by a crowd at the airport. Back home, the gunman who had shot him and the others arrives and begs for forgiveness, to which Marley states he "keeps no vengeance". After Marley debuts a song to Rita and the children about reconciliation, she finally deems him ready to perform a peace concert. The film ends as Marley and his band gear up to perform again for the Jamaican crowd with the song "One Love".

A pre-credits montage shows clips of the real Marley and his band during the One Love Peace Concert, which sees them joined on-stage by the heads of both of Jamaica's political parties, also revealing that Marley and his band were able to perform in Zimbabwe to celebrate the nation's independence before he died of his cancer in 1981 at the age of 36.

Development
In June 2018, it was announced that Paramount Pictures was developing a biographical drama film based on the life of singer and songwriter Bob Marley, with Marley's son Ziggy Marley serving as a producer. In March 2021, Reinaldo Marcus Green had been hired to direct, with Zach Baylin (who wrote Green's 2021 film King Richard), Frank E. Flowers, and Terence Winter writing the screenplay. In February 2022, Kingsley Ben-Adir was cast as the titular character, after an extensive, yearlong and globe-spanning search by the studio. In August, Lashana Lynch had joined the cast playing as Bob's wife Rita Marley. In February 2023, Michael Gandolfini, Nadine Marshall, James Norton and Anthony Welsh had joined the cast.

Filming
Principal photography began in December 2022 in London and Jamaica and wrapped in April 2023. The film's title, Bob Marley: One Love, was announced by producer Ziggy Marley at CinemaCon that same month.

Music
In October 2023, it was reported that Kris Bowers had composed the film's score, after working with Green on Monsters and Men (2018) and King Richard. On January 26, 2024, American country singer Kacey Musgraves released a cover of the Wailers' "Three Little Birds" (1977), part of the film's soundtrack. The soundtrack EP of the film was released on February 14, 2024, by Island Records and Tuff Gong.

Release
Bob Marley: One Love held its world premiere in Marley's hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, on January 23, 2024. It was released theatrically in the United States on February 14, 2024. It was originally scheduled to be released on January 12, 2024. It was released in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2024.

Home media
It premiered on Paramount+ and MGM+ in the US and Canada on April 12, 2024, with a linear streaming on the same day.

It was released on 4K Ultra HD, DVD and Blu-ray on May 28, 2024 by Paramount Home Entertainment.

Box office
Bob Marley: One Love grossed $96.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $82.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $179.4 million.

In the United States and Canada, One Love was released alongside Madame Web, and was initially projected to gross $30–35 million from 3,536 theaters over its six-day opening frame. The film made $14 million on its first day, a Valentine's Day mid-week record (surpassing The Vow's $11.5 million in 2012), and $3.8 million on its second. After making $7.5 million on Friday, six-day estimates were raised to $46 million. It went on to debut to $51 million over its first six days (including $27.7 million in its opening weekend), finishing first at the box office and marking one of the best openings for a music biopic. In its second weekend the film made $13.5 million (a drop of 53%), remaining in first. It made $7.4 million in its third weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Dune: Part Two.

In Jamaica, the film's opening day gross of $100,000 and an 89% market share set a record for the biggest box office opening of all-time in the country.

Critical response
Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled at PostTrak gave it a 91% positive score, with 80% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "[Ben-Adir] wholly conjures Marley's charisma while also teasing the musician's sense of isolation, stemming from a childhood marked by abandonment. His compelling performance enlivens a film that otherwise feels like it's perpetually struggling to take off." Javier Ocaña of El País called the film "a serviceable biopic that is saved by its soundtrack" while Expresso thought it "showed the man beyond the myth".

Brian Lowry of CNN called the film "a dutiful addition to a recent wave of such biographies (see Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody), but a largely uninspired one." The Age Jake Wilson gave it 1.5/5 stars, calling it a "routine biopic" and writing, "considering this is unlikely to be the last attempt to dramatise Marley's life story, next time it wouldn't hurt if a Jamaican filmmaker had a go." The Atlantic Hannah Giorgis wrote, "One Love might offer a less daunting entry point than Marley, which can feel intimidating in its scope. But his music and ideas—and all the people who helped usher them into this fractured world—deserve better."