It’s been a rough few years to be a Spike Lee fan. He’s one of our best living filmmakers, but his output in the last decade has been underwhelming in one way or another, whether being a bit dull (“Miracle At St. Anna”), quite good but underseen (“Red Hook Summer,” “Chi-Raq”), quite bad and also underseen (“Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus”), or career-nadir-bad and also totally unseen (the “Oldboy” remake).
Things, quite hearteningly, are looking up though. He’ll debut his TV spin-off of his debut “She’s Gotta Have It” on Netflix later in the fall, has another TV series based on the life of African-American tech entrepreneur Chad Sanders in the works, and now he looks to be prepping his first feature in three years, with the help of one of the fastest-rising filmmakers around.
The Hollywood Reporter have the goods that Lee will direct Focus Features’ “Black Klansman,” the true story of Ron Stallworth, an African-American detective in Colorado who infiltrated the local Ku Klux Klan, even becoming the head of the local chapter. John David Washington, not just the star of “Ballers” but also the son of Lee’s old pal Denzel, will take the lead role.
It’s a timely subject, but the film’s apparently been in the works for two years now, though it’s undoubtedly been helped towards a greenlight by the film’s producers: Jordan Peele, the sketch-star-turned-filmmaker behind this year’s smash “Get Out,” plus QC Entertainment, Blumhouse Productions and Monkeypaw Productions.
It’s great that Peele’s using his heat to help Lee, who he considers a major influence, behind the camera again, and this topic feels firmly in the right hands. Production’s set to begin later in the fall, so we’ll hopefully see the film in theaters before 2018 is out. In the meantime, you can see Lee’s next project when “She’s Gotta Have It” hits Netflix on November 23rd.
