Focus Features announced that Academy Award® winning director Spike Lee’s "BlacKkKlansman" will open in theaters later this summer on August 10 starring previously announced John David Washington, Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Inside Llewyn Davis), Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Topher Grace (Traffic, Spider-Man 3).
From visionary director Spike Lee comes the provocative story based on Ron Stallworth’s real life as Colorado Springs’s first African-American police officer who went undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
Unbelievably, Detective Stallworth (John David Washington) and his partner Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) penetrate the KKK at its highest levels to thwart its attempt to take over the city.
Produced by the team behind the Academy-Award® winning Get Out, Spike Lee uses his trademark take-no-prisoner style and humor to tell this story often missing from the history books.
"BlacKkKlansman" is being produced by Sean McKittrick and Raymond Mansfield for QC Entertainment, Jason Blum for Blumhouse, Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw, Spike Lee and Shaun Redick. QC’s Edward H. Hamm Jr. will serve as Executive Producer.
ABOUT SPIKE LEE
SPIKE LEE’s iconic body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. His career spans over 30 years and includes: She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Old Boy, and Chi-Raq. Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the double Emmy Award winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, a follow up to his HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award winning A Huey P Newton Story.
In the television arena, Lee is currently in pre-production on Season 2 of his Netflix Original Series She’s Gotta Have It, a contemporary update of the classic film. Lee is also known for his legendary Air Jordan TV commercials and marketing campaigns with Michael Jordan for Nike. In 1997 he launched the advertising agency Spike DDB, a fully integrated agency with a focus on trendsetter, cross-cultural and millennial audiences. He recently directed new additions to the Capital One “Road Trip” national campaign featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley.
In addition to his films, TV series and commercials, Lee has directed a number of music videos and shorts for artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Public Enemy, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis and Anita Baker.
Spike Lee is a two-time Oscar nominee (Do The Right Thing for Original Screenplay and 4 Little Girls for Documentary Feature) and was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a tenured Professor of Film and Artistic Director. Lee’s Production Company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is based in Da Republic of Brooklyn, NY.
ABOUT QC ENTERTAINMENT
Led by partners Sean McKittrick, Ray Mansfield and Edward H. Hamm Jr., QC Entertainment – standing for Quality Control – has quickly become a go-to company for financing and producing distinct, character-based, director-driven films. A one-stop solution for filmmakers looking to have all business and creative matters handled in-house by one company, QC can develop, produce on-set, finance productions, handle sales and distribution, and everything in between.
One of the first projects QC championed from the initial pitch through its successful release was Jordan Peele’s feature directing debut from his original screenplay, which QC produced and financed with Blumhouse Productions. Other recent releases include: QC financed, produced and handled sales for Zoe Lister-Jones’ directorial debut Band Aid, which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and released by IFC Films; A Futile & Stupid Gesture, directed by David Wain and starring Will Forte, Domhnall Gleeson and Joel McHale, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival before launching on Netflix; and produced and financed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies released by Sony/Screen Gems.
QC is producing and financing the following films in post-production: Ike Barniholtz feature directorial debut, The Oath, based on his original screenplay and starring Barinholtz, Tiffany Haddish, Carrie Brownstein, Billy Magnussen, Meredith Hagner, Jon Barinholtz, Nora Dunn, Chris Ellis and John Cho; and Time Freak, a time travel comedy starring Asa Butterfield, Sophie Turner and Skyler Gisondo, based on Academy Award® nominated short of the same name.
Other upcoming projects QC is producing and financing include teaming with acclaimed actor Sharlto Copley for his feature directorial debut, Sapien Safari. The social comedy is based on an original screenplay by Copley who will also co-star in the film.
ABOUT BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS
Blumhouse Productions, founded by two time Academy-award® nominated and two time Emmy® and Peabody award-winning producer Jason Blum, is a multi-media company known for pioneering a new model of studio filmmaking: producing high-quality, micro-budget films. In 2017 Blumhouse produced the critically-acclaimed blockbusters Get Out from Jordan Peele and Split from M. Night Shyamalan, which grossed more than $500 million worldwide off combined budgets of less than $15 million. In October, Blumhouse’s Happy Death Day was the company’s third number one film of the year. In addition, Blumhouse is the producer of the highly-profitable The Purge, Insidious, Sinister and Paranormal Activity franchises, which together have grossed more than $1.7 billion worldwide. Blumhouse's films also include the Academy-Award®nominated Whiplash, The Gift, Unfriended and The Visit. Blumhouse’s next film, Blumhouse's Truth or Dare, opens Friday, April 13th.
In 2017, Blum launched Blumhouse Television, an independent TV studio, with investment from ITV Studios. Current projects include “Sharp Objects,” a mini-series for HBO starring Amy Adams based on Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel of the same name, a mini-series for Showtime based on journalist Gabriel Sherman’s reporting on former Fox News Chief, Roger Ailes and a TV series based on The Purge for USA and SYFY.
ABOUT MONKEYPAW PRODUCTIONS
Monkeypaw Productions was founded by Oscar® and Emmy® winner Jordan Peele in 2012 with the aim to tell stories in comedy, horror and all genres in-between, in order to push the boundaries of storytelling. Peele wrote, produced and directed the critically acclaimed blockbuster Get Out, which was recognized for four Academy Awards® including nominations for Daniel Kaluuya for Best Actor, and Peele for Best Director, Best Picture and earning Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In television, Monkeypaw produced Key & Peele on Comedy Central, of which Peele was the co-star and co-creator. The hit series garnered more than 1 billion online hits and won a Peabody Award, an American Comedy Award, and earned 12 Emmy Award® nominations during its five season run earning Peele an Emmy® for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
Monkeypaw has a first look deal at Universal. Upcoming on the film side, Monkeypaw is teaming up with Oscar® nominee Henry Selick and Netflix on the Stop-Motion animation pic, Wendell & Wild. Peele is also co-writing the title and will reteam with Keegan Michael Key to provide the title character voices.
On the TV side, Monkeypaw just premiered the Tracy Morgan series, The LAST O.G. on TBS, a dark comedic examination on post-prison rehabilitation back into society, and is also in production on The Twilight Zone reboot for CBS All Access. In addition, Monkeypaw developed and is producing Lovecraft Country for HBO along with Bad Robot and Misha Green. The straight to series pickup is an anthological sci-fi thriller series which reclaims genre storytelling from the African-American perspective -- a man embarks on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America to find his missing father, which begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and malevolent spirits and monsters ripped from a Lovecraft paperback, and the TV series The Hunt, inspired by true events, the drama follows a diverse band of Nazi hunters in 1970s America as they set out on a quest for revenge and justice — tracking and killing hundreds of Nazis who, with the unconscionable help of the U.S. government, escaped justice and embedded themselves in American society.
ABOUT FOCUS FEATURES
Focus Features (focusfeatures.com) acquires and produces specialty films for the global market, and holds a library of iconic movies from fearless filmmakers. Current and upcoming domestic releases from Focus include six-time Academy Award®-nominated and Best Picture nominee Darkest Hour, directed by Joe Wright and starring Academy Award®-winner Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill; director Paul Thomas Anderson’s six-time Academy Award®-nominated and Best Picture nominee Phantom Thread starring Daniel Day-Lewis; Jason Reitman’s new comedy Tully, starring Charlize Theron and written by Diablo Cody; Wim Wender’s documentary Pope Francis – A Man of His Word; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville’s documentary on Mister Rogers; Lenny Abrahamson’s atmospheric thriller The Little Stranger; Joel Edgerton’s coming-of-age and coming-out drama Boy Erased, about a boy’s true-life experience at a conversion therapy program, starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe; Mary Queen of Scots with Saoirse Ronan as Mary and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I; On the Basis of Sex, the real-life drama of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg staring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer; Spike Lee’s new film BlacKkKlansman; and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s directorial debut Mustang.
Focus is part of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG), which produces, acquires, markets and distributes filmed entertainment worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television and other distribution platforms, as well as consumer products, interactive gaming and live entertainment. UFEG’s global division also includes Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Brand Development, Fandango, DreamWorks Animation Film and Television and Awesomeness. UFEG is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.
"BlacKkKlansman" is being produced by Sean McKittrick and Raymond Mansfield for QC Entertainment, Jason Blum for Blumhouse, Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw, Spike Lee and Shaun Redick. QC’s Edward H. Hamm Jr. will serve as Executive Producer.
ABOUT SPIKE LEE
SPIKE LEE’s iconic body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. His career spans over 30 years and includes: She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Old Boy, and Chi-Raq. Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the double Emmy Award winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, a follow up to his HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award winning A Huey P Newton Story.
In the television arena, Lee is currently in pre-production on Season 2 of his Netflix Original Series She’s Gotta Have It, a contemporary update of the classic film. Lee is also known for his legendary Air Jordan TV commercials and marketing campaigns with Michael Jordan for Nike. In 1997 he launched the advertising agency Spike DDB, a fully integrated agency with a focus on trendsetter, cross-cultural and millennial audiences. He recently directed new additions to the Capital One “Road Trip” national campaign featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley.
In addition to his films, TV series and commercials, Lee has directed a number of music videos and shorts for artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Public Enemy, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis and Anita Baker.
Spike Lee is a two-time Oscar nominee (Do The Right Thing for Original Screenplay and 4 Little Girls for Documentary Feature) and was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a tenured Professor of Film and Artistic Director. Lee’s Production Company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is based in Da Republic of Brooklyn, NY.
ABOUT QC ENTERTAINMENT
Led by partners Sean McKittrick, Ray Mansfield and Edward H. Hamm Jr., QC Entertainment – standing for Quality Control – has quickly become a go-to company for financing and producing distinct, character-based, director-driven films. A one-stop solution for filmmakers looking to have all business and creative matters handled in-house by one company, QC can develop, produce on-set, finance productions, handle sales and distribution, and everything in between.
One of the first projects QC championed from the initial pitch through its successful release was Jordan Peele’s feature directing debut from his original screenplay, which QC produced and financed with Blumhouse Productions. Other recent releases include: QC financed, produced and handled sales for Zoe Lister-Jones’ directorial debut Band Aid, which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and released by IFC Films; A Futile & Stupid Gesture, directed by David Wain and starring Will Forte, Domhnall Gleeson and Joel McHale, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival before launching on Netflix; and produced and financed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies released by Sony/Screen Gems.
QC is producing and financing the following films in post-production: Ike Barniholtz feature directorial debut, The Oath, based on his original screenplay and starring Barinholtz, Tiffany Haddish, Carrie Brownstein, Billy Magnussen, Meredith Hagner, Jon Barinholtz, Nora Dunn, Chris Ellis and John Cho; and Time Freak, a time travel comedy starring Asa Butterfield, Sophie Turner and Skyler Gisondo, based on Academy Award® nominated short of the same name.
Other upcoming projects QC is producing and financing include teaming with acclaimed actor Sharlto Copley for his feature directorial debut, Sapien Safari. The social comedy is based on an original screenplay by Copley who will also co-star in the film.
ABOUT BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS
Blumhouse Productions, founded by two time Academy-award® nominated and two time Emmy® and Peabody award-winning producer Jason Blum, is a multi-media company known for pioneering a new model of studio filmmaking: producing high-quality, micro-budget films. In 2017 Blumhouse produced the critically-acclaimed blockbusters Get Out from Jordan Peele and Split from M. Night Shyamalan, which grossed more than $500 million worldwide off combined budgets of less than $15 million. In October, Blumhouse’s Happy Death Day was the company’s third number one film of the year. In addition, Blumhouse is the producer of the highly-profitable The Purge, Insidious, Sinister and Paranormal Activity franchises, which together have grossed more than $1.7 billion worldwide. Blumhouse's films also include the Academy-Award®nominated Whiplash, The Gift, Unfriended and The Visit. Blumhouse’s next film, Blumhouse's Truth or Dare, opens Friday, April 13th.
In 2017, Blum launched Blumhouse Television, an independent TV studio, with investment from ITV Studios. Current projects include “Sharp Objects,” a mini-series for HBO starring Amy Adams based on Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel of the same name, a mini-series for Showtime based on journalist Gabriel Sherman’s reporting on former Fox News Chief, Roger Ailes and a TV series based on The Purge for USA and SYFY.
ABOUT MONKEYPAW PRODUCTIONS
Monkeypaw Productions was founded by Oscar® and Emmy® winner Jordan Peele in 2012 with the aim to tell stories in comedy, horror and all genres in-between, in order to push the boundaries of storytelling. Peele wrote, produced and directed the critically acclaimed blockbuster Get Out, which was recognized for four Academy Awards® including nominations for Daniel Kaluuya for Best Actor, and Peele for Best Director, Best Picture and earning Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In television, Monkeypaw produced Key & Peele on Comedy Central, of which Peele was the co-star and co-creator. The hit series garnered more than 1 billion online hits and won a Peabody Award, an American Comedy Award, and earned 12 Emmy Award® nominations during its five season run earning Peele an Emmy® for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
Monkeypaw has a first look deal at Universal. Upcoming on the film side, Monkeypaw is teaming up with Oscar® nominee Henry Selick and Netflix on the Stop-Motion animation pic, Wendell & Wild. Peele is also co-writing the title and will reteam with Keegan Michael Key to provide the title character voices.
On the TV side, Monkeypaw just premiered the Tracy Morgan series, The LAST O.G. on TBS, a dark comedic examination on post-prison rehabilitation back into society, and is also in production on The Twilight Zone reboot for CBS All Access. In addition, Monkeypaw developed and is producing Lovecraft Country for HBO along with Bad Robot and Misha Green. The straight to series pickup is an anthological sci-fi thriller series which reclaims genre storytelling from the African-American perspective -- a man embarks on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America to find his missing father, which begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and malevolent spirits and monsters ripped from a Lovecraft paperback, and the TV series The Hunt, inspired by true events, the drama follows a diverse band of Nazi hunters in 1970s America as they set out on a quest for revenge and justice — tracking and killing hundreds of Nazis who, with the unconscionable help of the U.S. government, escaped justice and embedded themselves in American society.
ABOUT FOCUS FEATURES
Focus Features (focusfeatures.com) acquires and produces specialty films for the global market, and holds a library of iconic movies from fearless filmmakers. Current and upcoming domestic releases from Focus include six-time Academy Award®-nominated and Best Picture nominee Darkest Hour, directed by Joe Wright and starring Academy Award®-winner Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill; director Paul Thomas Anderson’s six-time Academy Award®-nominated and Best Picture nominee Phantom Thread starring Daniel Day-Lewis; Jason Reitman’s new comedy Tully, starring Charlize Theron and written by Diablo Cody; Wim Wender’s documentary Pope Francis – A Man of His Word; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville’s documentary on Mister Rogers; Lenny Abrahamson’s atmospheric thriller The Little Stranger; Joel Edgerton’s coming-of-age and coming-out drama Boy Erased, about a boy’s true-life experience at a conversion therapy program, starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe; Mary Queen of Scots with Saoirse Ronan as Mary and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I; On the Basis of Sex, the real-life drama of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg staring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer; Spike Lee’s new film BlacKkKlansman; and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s directorial debut Mustang.
Focus is part of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG), which produces, acquires, markets and distributes filmed entertainment worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television and other distribution platforms, as well as consumer products, interactive gaming and live entertainment. UFEG’s global division also includes Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Brand Development, Fandango, DreamWorks Animation Film and Television and Awesomeness. UFEG is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.
