Some people will tell you that timing is everything, and after learning about this next bit of news that we have to report, I'm fairly certain that filmmakers Spike Lee and Jordan Peele received the memo.
THR is reporting that Spike Lee (MALCOLM X, DO THE RIGHT THING) and Jordan Peele (GET OUT) are joining forces to present the true story of an African-American police officer who infiltrated the KKK with Denzel Washington's son, John David Washington in negotiations to star. Built as a dramatic crime thriller, cameras for the film are set to roll this fall with Focus Features handling the project's distribution.
Klansman tells the story of Ron Stallworth, a detective in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who in 1978 answered an ad in the local newspaper seeking new Klan members. Not only did he gain membership, but rose through the ranks to become the head of the local chapter. Stallworth, who is black, was able to collect all manner of intelligence by posing as a white supremacist on the phone or via other forms of correspondence. For in-person appearances, Stallworth sent a white fellow officer in his place for any face-to-face meetings. During his undercover work, Stallworth managed to sabotage several cross-burnings and other activities of the notorious fear-mongering hate group.
After completing his work, Stallworth recorded his experience in a 2014 book entitled Black Klansman. As a point of fact, the title of the memoir is in no way connected with The Black Klansman, a Blaxploitation revenge thriller from 1966 that told the tale of an African American man who goes deep into the KKK in order to seek vengeance for the death of his daughter. Penning the script for the new film project will be Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmont as well as Spike Lee himself. While the timeliness of the film is uncanny, Lee, Peele and the producers have been silently putting forth their efforts toward the project for the better part of at least two years, now.
It's also worth noting that the pairing of Spike Lee and Jordan Peele is bound to get cinephiles jazzed, as both filmmakers come from different eras but will now team to bring a socially and politically-charged thriller to the masses. I keep mentioning time, but really, with so much unrest happening around the world today, it seems only too fitting that the BLACK KLANSMAN film is gaining traction. I'm looking forward to checking it out for sure.