“I haven’t made a feature film in three years… Inside Man was my most successful film… But we can’t get the sequel made. And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels. The film’s not getting made. We tried many times. It’s not going to happen… But money is a big part of film, unlike a lot of other art forms.”
Spike Lee speaking to Charlie Rose at PromaxBDA a day or two ago.
Not much of a surprise here. I remembered that, earlier this year, while speaking at the Dallas Film Society, he admitted having several film projects in various stages of “in the works,” including a sequel to Inside Man, a Jim Brown biopic, and his Joe Louis project. And he added that funding issues were at the root of each of these hold-ups.
Although, I’m just as surprised as he seems to be that the Inside Man sequel hasn’t received a green light, given how successful it was (both critically and commercially), and the fact that Hollywood always has an itchy trigger finger when it comes to sequels to successful movies. It didn’t break the coveted $100 million gross domestically, though it came close, and it grossed roughly $185 million worldwide – Spike’s best performing film ever!
It’s been 5 years, and I’d say, as he already did, if it hasn’t happened by now, it likely won’t ever.
Although, frankly, as much as I liked the first one, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to a sequel. I just want to see Spike behind helming another original joint; and if it has to be a sequel to Inside Man, then so be it!
Of 9 or so projects he’s attached to, none of them is certain to go into production any time soon. His last film was the Katrina follow-up documentary, If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise, released last year; but his last fictional narrative work was Miracle At St Anna in 2008.
Of most interest to me is the adaptation of African American physicist Ronald Mallett’s book, Time Traveler, which I reviewed on the old site, and will probably repost here eventually. I heard some things about it recently, but, unfortunately, can’t share the details, for fear of losing my life 🙂
I’ll just say that it’s not a dead project, as I previously thought it was.
Stay tuned…