With his Sundance conversation-starter Red Hook Summer set for an August theatrical/VOD release, Spike Lee sat down with GQ and gave a rundown of which projects are happening for him, and which are not. Among the Spike Lee joints lost by the wayside due to funding struggles, etc.: His Jackie Robinson biopic, LA riots film, and Wesley Snipes-as-James Brown flick. Surprisingly, Lee admits he’s still awaiting the green light on Oldboy — but in the meantime Lee’s plotting to direct Mike Tyson on Broadway and has already interviewed the likes of Justin Bieber for a Michael Jackson doc celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bad , so there’s that… [ GQ ]
After director Spike Lee erroneously re-Tweeted their address as belonging to Trayvon Martin killer George Zimmerman , a school-cafeteria lunch lady and her husband were essentially forced to flee their home amid unwanted attention. Death threats, hate mail, swarming reporters and fearful inquiries from neighbors were all too much for the woman, 70, who has a heart condition, and her husband, 72, who temporarily moved to a hotel to avoid the spotlight and possible danger. According to reports, the confusion arose because the woman has a son, William George Zimmerman, who lived with her in 1995 and still lives in Central Florida. He is no relation to George Zimmerman, 28, the un-charged shooter in the Trayvon Martin case , which is sparking national outrage and international interest. Zimmerman traced the tweet – which did not initially come from Spike Lee, but gained massive interest after Lee re-Tweeted it – to a man in California. Zimmerman said he has implored the man to stop and said he received this response, “Black power all day. No justice, no peace” and an obscenity. Lee’s tweet has been removed, but it continues to be re-tweeted. Man. Spike hasn’t flown off the handle and wished he could take it back this badly since his taunting of Reggie Miller sparked the Pacers guard’s 25-point fourth quarter explosion in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals.
Justin Combs (Diddy’s first born) could’ve easily followed in his father’s footsteps, but he has decided to be his own man. And from the looks of it, Diddy is 100% supportive. I’ve always admired how active Diddy is with his kids. This time, the Hip Hop Mogul celebrated his son’s intent to play football at UCLA! Here’s how the NY POST is reporting it: Sean “Diddy” Combs celebrated at Philippe on Wednesday after his eldest son, Justin , signed a letter of intent to play football at UCLA. Earlier, Diddy attended a ceremony at Justin’s high school, Iona Prep, on National Signing Day, along with Justin’s mother, Misa Hylton-Brim . The future Bruin tweeted a photo of the family from the event, and then arrived at Philippe with his dad and Spike Lee to celebrate with guests in a private room. Sources say the adults drank Ciroc while the kids toasted with ginger ale.
Aw how precious! Diddy’s little princess Chance turned six this weekend and her parents made sure she was properly pampered. Arriving in a bright pink stretch Hummer limo, Chance and a bevy of baby beauties were treated to mini makeovers, pedicures, a tea party, photoshoot and runway show at the Pink Pastry Parlor in Alpharetta, followed by a slumber party. The whole event was reportedly captured by cameras for a new OWN show called “Party at Tiffany’s”. Check out all the pictures when you continue.
Man, Spike Lee sure has a potty mouth: Spike Lee had a message for the Sundance festival crowd at tonight’s world premiere of his new film, “Red Hook Summer”: “Please tell them that this is not a motherf**king sequel to ‘Do the Right Thing’!” That’s what people had been saying, mostly to fill the vacuum of information surrounding the movie. All anyone seemed to know was that it was set in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, that it followed a 13-year-old boy (newcomer Jules Brown) and his preacher grandfather (played by ‘The Wire’ veteran Clarke Peters), and that it featured the return of Mookie, Lee’s pizza-delivering character from his trailblazing 1989 movie about tensions boiling over in the summer heat. Lee, who took the stage for the post-screening Q&A draped in New York Giants regalia and immediately declared that the audience had “doubled the black population of Utah — maybe tripled it,” prefers to think of “Red Hook Summer” as “another installment in my great chronicles of Brooklyn,” a series that includes “She’s Gotta Have It,” Do the Right Thing,” “Clockers” and “Crooklyn.” “We never went to the studios with this film, I told you!” he shouted. “We said, ‘Were gonna do this motherf**king film ourselves and show it at Sundance…. This whole thing was planned out.” Of the studios, he added, “They know nothing about black people. And they gonna give me notes about what a young black boy and girl gonna do in Red Hook? F**k no! We had to do it ourselves!” Make sure y’all support Spike and his film! Source More On Bossip! Rocky Road: A List Of Couples That Might Not Make It Past 2012 Black Casts Ain’t Extinct Yet: A List Of Some of The Best All African American Films Real Is Overrated: The Most Notorious And Beloved Fake Celebrity Bodyparts Of All Time ChitChatter: Beyonce Speaks For The First Time Since Having Baby Blue Ivy About The Loss Of Etta James
First, Obama got fly at the Apollo theater. Now, his shoe game is on point. One of the most popular kicks in the last few years, the Spizikes, have been all over the country. The shoe is a combination of the three Jordans that Spike Lee promoted as Mars Blackmon in the 80s. And they’re fire. Apparently, Obama agrees and he had Spike Lee send him over this custom version of the kicks in super snazzy bordeaux. It even came with a Presidential seal! Damn, Obama’s having a good day. We’d cop if he put them on Ebay. Do it!
Eddie Murphy is prepping to play former Washington, DC mayor Marion Barry in a drama to be directed by Spike Lee . Barry had two runs as mayor of DC from 1979-1991 and from 1995-1999, and made national news when he was caught smoking crack cocaine in 1990. Despite the scandal, Barry was able to get reelected after running with the slogan, “He May Not Be Perfect, But He’s Perfect for D.C.” The forthcoming biopic starring Eddie Murphy will air on HBO, but the exact date has not yet been revealed. Get more info about the life of Marion Barry and this project at HuffPost . RELATED POSTS: Is Eddie Murphy Still Funny? [VIDEO] Eddie Murphy’s “A Thousand Words” [VIDEO] Eddie Murphy Will NOT Host The Academy Awards
Oldboy producer Roy Lee recently spilled some vague details on Spike Lee ‘s Josh Brolin -starring remake, promising a “darker” retelling of Park Chan-wook’s Korean thriller also adapted from the original manga. “It’s very similar, but we’ve added new elements. Or, Mark Protosevich has come up with new elements to it that will throw off the audience who have seen the original movie because there are new characters and new situations that present themselves in a way that changes the story but eventually go in the same direction.” Sure, Spike. Let me just go get my hammer… [ Collider via Slashfilm ]
It’s officially Spike Lee Day here at Movieline! On the heels of the rumor that Lee is directing some sort of spiritual cousin to Do the Right Thing! comes an official confirmation of the last Lee rumor : Mandate Pictures has announced that the director will take over duties on an American remake of Oldboy , the 2003 Chan-wook Park film that Steven Spielberg and Will Smith were once discussing. Kinda awesome! Click through for the press release, and start fantasy casting in the comments section.
