Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman to open in theaters this August

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It's been some time since a Spike Lee film has really impressed me, but I've got to say that BLACKKKLANSMAN seems quite promising. Focus Features announced the release date for the film earlier today, which tells the provocative true-story of an African-American police officer who went undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan, and it's quickly approaching.

BLACKKKLANSMAN will hit theaters on August 10, 2018, which places it nearly a year to the day of the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. Starring John David Washington (Ballers), Adam Driver (STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI), Laura Harrier (SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING), and Topher Grace (TRAFFIC), the upcoming film is based on the real-life memoirs of Ron Stallworth, Colorado Springs' first African-American police officer who went undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Detective Stallworth (Washington) along with his partner Flip Zimmerman (Driver) were not only able to penetrate the KKK at its highest level, but also rise within its ranks to collect all sorts of intelligence in an effort to sabotage their activities from within. Produced by Jason Blum and Jordan Peele, a statement from Focus Features says that Spike Lee's "trademark take-no-prisoner style and humor" will be present as he tells "this story often missing from the history books."

The synopsis of "Black Klansman" via Amazon:

When detective Ron Stallworth, the first black detective in the history of the Colorado Springs Police Department, comes across a classified ad in the local paper asking for all those interested in joining the Ku Klux Klan to contact a P.O. box, Detective Stallworth does his job and responds with interest, using his real name while posing as a white man. He figures he’ll receive a few brochures in the mail, maybe even a magazine, and learn more about a growing terrorist threat in his community.

A few weeks later the office phone rings, and the caller asks Ron a question he thought he’d never have to answer, “Would you like to join our cause?” This is 1978, and the KKK is on the rise in the United States. Its Grand Wizard, David Duke, has made a name for himself, appearing on talk shows, and major magazine interviews preaching a “kinder” Klan that wants nothing more than to preserve a heritage, and to restore a nation to its former glory.

Ron answers the caller’s question that night with a yes, launching what is surely one of the most audacious, and incredible undercover investigations in history. Ron recruits his partner Chuck to play the "white" Ron Stallworth, while Stallworth himself conducts all subsequent phone conversations. During the months-long investigation, Stallworth sabotages cross burnings, exposes white supremacists in the military, and even befriends David Duke himself.

Black Klansman is an amazing true story that reads like a crime thriller, and a searing portrait of a divided America and the extraordinary heroes who dare to fight back.

BLACKKKLANSMAN will hit theaters on August 10, 2018.