--- description: The film will be based on Lysistrata title: Spike Lee's "Chiraq" Will Be a Musical Comedy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3963babecaa92b7/6987ef733c163970fb455f6c/chiraq.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Spike Lee's _Chiraq_ Will Be a Musical Comedy by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 12, 2015 2:34 PM CUT  Spike Lee arrives at the Costume Institute Gala Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art May 5, 2015 in New York. Spike Lee arrives at the Costume Institute Gala Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art May 5, 2015 in New York.Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 12, 2015 2:34 PM CUT **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](http://www.screendaily.com/im-global-cannes-bound-with-chiraq/5087677.article "undefined") 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3855323/spike-lee-chiraq-kanye/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3855323/spike-lee-chiraq-kanye/"},"headline":"Spike Lee's Chiraq Will Be a Musical Comedy","datePublished":"2015-05-12T14:34:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:07:27.052Z","description":"The film will be based on Lysistrata","url":"https://time.com/3855323/spike-lee-chiraq-kanye/","keywords":["movies","Kanye West","chicago","Samuel L. Jackson","Jennifer Hudson","Spike Lee"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3963babecaa92b7/6987ef733c163970fb455f6c/chiraq.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3963babecaa92b7/6987ef733c163970fb455f6c/chiraq.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-ENTERTAINMENT-METROPOLITAN MUSEUM","caption":"US-ENTERTAINMENT-METROPOLITAN MUSEUM","creditText":"Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3855323/spike-lee-chiraq-kanye/","name":"Spike Lee's Chiraq Will Be a Musical Comedy"}}]}] ```