Correction appended, May 12
Spike Lee’s next joint may be about violence on the streets of Chicago, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun: the movie will be a musical comedy featuring Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack.
Earlier reports indicated that Kanye West would appear in the movie himself, but his representative said that was not true:
Screen Daily reports that the film, Chiraq, is based on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, in which Greek women band together to end the Peloponnesian War by refusing to have sex with their husbands until the fighting is over. The idea in the Spike Lee version may be that women try the same tactic to wipe out gang violence in Chicago.
Amazon Original Movies has signed up for the U.S. release, which will reportedly be shown in theaters. Timing isn’t set yet, but there’s a chance it could be in cinemas in 2016 at the same time as another Chicago movie, Southside With You, about Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date—which included a showing of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing.
Correction: The original version of the article incorrectly stated Kanye West’s involvement in the film. He’s in talks to be involved in the soundtrack.
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