Never Die Alone : About The Story


Based on legendary street novelist Donald Goines’ book of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown seeking redemption and finding only violent death. But he did not die alone...King David’s final moments are spent with Paul (David Arquette), an aspiring journalist who knows him for just a few minutes but is changed forever by their meeting. King David – half preacher, half Satan, and all street smarts – gives to Paul an audiotape featuring the story of his recent exploits, leaving behind a riveting, poetic sermon on villainy and its consequences. The tapes reveal that the cycle of violence and retribution King David’s actions spawned have come back on him full circle, as he suspected they might all along...

The acclaimed novel Never Die Alone was penned in 1974 by the late African American cult writer Donald Goines shortly before his death, and was adapted for the screen by James Gibson. One of the most widely acclaimed black authors of his generation, Goines wrote his first two books while incarcerated, and followed those with an astonishing 16 novels written from the time he was released from prison in 1970 until he was shot to death in 1974. Goines sold more than 5 million books in his brief career and has, in the past decade, been re-discovered by legions of hip-hop fans. He has been called the greatest black American urban novelist since Chester Himes and the French magazine L’Express called him “a flashing talent straight from the street of the lost.”

The film is helmed by Ernest Dickerson, whose directorial debut was the critically acclaimed 1992 drama JUICE, starring Omar Epps and the late Tupac Shakur. Dickerson is also highly regarded for serving as director of photography on seven of Spike Lee’s most celebrated films from SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT up to and including MALCOLM X. He has directed a number of feature and made-for-TV films, ranging from the recent horror movie BONES starring Snoop Dogg to the Peabody Award-winning Showtime movie STRANGE JUSTICE, based on the controversy surrounding Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. Dickerson most recently directed the drama GOOD FENCES, starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, which had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

NEVER DIE ALONE stars DMX (CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE), David Arquette (THE GREY ZONE), Michael Ealy (BARBERSHOP), Reagan Gomez-Preston (“Carmen: A Hip Hopera”) and Clifton Powell (BONES). It is produced by Earl Simmons and Alessandro Camon, co-produced by Robi Reed, Cheryl Martin, and Tashera Simmons and executive produced by Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt, Angelo A. Ellerbee, Rudy “Kato” Rangel, Marc Gerald, Dion Fearon and Cameron Casey. Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt is co-executive producer. The film is the first motion picture to be produced by Bloodline Films, DMX’s film production company. The director of photography is Matthew Libatique (PHONE BOOTH, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, GOTHIKA).