The Freaky Tales that Too Short knows so well are finally coming to life on the big screen.
Taking its name from the legendary 1987 Oakland hip-hop track by Too Short, Freaky Tales is the latest film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the husband-and-wife directing duo behind Captain Marvel.
Nearly a year and a half after debuting at Sundance 2024, the film is set for a full theatrical release on April 4. It serves as a heartfelt tribute to Oakland, the city where Fleck was raised.
“I’ve been thinking about [the film] ever since that Sleepy Floyd game on May 10, 1987,” Fleck said at the Sundance premiere, referencing the Warriors playoff match in which Floyd scored an astonishing 51 points. “Which was phenomenal. It felt like the underdogs could at least win one … this is sort of like my 12-year-old fantasy.”
The film weaves together four interconnected Bay Area stories, including myths surrounding a robbery at Warriors legend Eric “Sleepy” Floyd’s home, an intense rap battle, and a chaotic brawl at Berkeley’s iconic punk rock venue, 924 Gilman Street.
Too Short, in addition to lending his song’s title to the film, also served as an executive producer and makes a brief cameo.
Freaky Tales premiered at Sundance 2024 to an energized audience and received mixed reviews from critics, currently holding a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Star Pedro Pascal reflected on a particularly wild experience while shooting in an Oakland mansion, calling it a “crazy f—king night.”
Pascal takes on the role of Clint, a gun-for-hire lured into accepting one last job. But he’s just one of many big names in the film’s star-studded cast, which also includes Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Tom Hanks, and the late Angus Cloud, the Oakland-born Euphoria star who passed away in 2023.
