Adam Driver, aka Kylo Ren in the recent Star Wars films, and Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming) have joined Academy Award winning director Spike Lee’s upcoming film, Black Klansman. Since the late ‘70s, Spike Lee has created politically-charged films, such as Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and Bamboozled, that fearlessly explore racial prejudice.
The upcoming Black Klansman follows Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), an African American policeman who remarkably infiltrates a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan so as to thwart their bigoted efforts. A blaxploitation movie from 1966 bears the same name and similarly follows a black man’s struggle to stop the KKK by infiltrating their ranks. It’s unclear if Lee’s film will include nods to the ’60s Black Klansman or Blaxploitation in general.
However, Lee’s Black Klansman is based on Stallworth’s real life story, as documented in his book of the same name and adapted by Lee and screenwriters David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel, and Kevin Willmont.
Black Klansman is produced by QC Entertainment, Blumhouse Productions, and Monkeypaw Productions (founded by Jordan Peele), the same team behind the surprise smash hit Get Out.
A release date has yet to be announced, but the all-star team is destined to produce a provocative, thought-provoking movie.