'The North Star' Screening Debuts in Doylestown

When Jeremiah Trotter left professional football in 2009, he retired as one of the most popular Philadelphia Eagles ever. Hopping out of a horse-drawn carriage in front of the County Theater Thursday afternoon, it's clear that popularity has not waned.

His fans swarmed the former middle linebacker, snapping pictures and asking for autographs as Trotter made his way to the theater doors to find a seat for the screening of his feature film debut in The North Star. 

Filmed on location throughout Bucks County last year, The North Star tells the true story of two runaway slaves who escape a Virginia plantation and make their way via the Underground Railroad to Buckingham. The movie also stars Keith David, Clifton Powell, Lynn Whitfield and Thomas C. Bartley Jr.

Prior to the screening, the Doylestown Historical Society organized a pre-show party in front of the theater, inviting the public to come dressed in historical garb. Society President Stuart Abramson presented a short history of Doylestown and invited the gathered crowd to answer trivia questions for prizes.

Students from CB West joined in on the fun, providing live musical entertainment as fans awaited the stars' arrival.

Meanwhile, a few blocks down the road, the unveiling of the film was placed in jeopardy when two producers filed an injunction request to halt the screenings in Doylestown and Newtown until a lawsuit against writer/director and CB West graduate Thomas K. Phillips and executive producers Dave and Tracey DeLellis had been settled.

According to phillyburbs.com, Judge Alan Rubenstein denied the request at 6:45 p.m., just in time for the rest of the cast and crew to grab their seats and enjoy the movie. 

The show may go on, but so does the lawsuit. Phillyburbs reports that Nathan File and Jesse James Jackson Sr. of the Camden, N.J.-based production company Jersey Style Films are seeking $175,000 in compensatory damages, plus $1 million in punitive damages, saying they had been shut out of post-production work on the film. They also feared an early, unfinished version of the film that had been released online could have damaged their reputation.

Video courtesy Metra4.com.