Spike Lee has chosen to wave a brief goodbye to his old friend cinema to partner with Netflix for his first ever TV serial – an adaptation and 30th anniversary celebration of his first feature-length effort, She’s Gotta Have It.
The original, written and directed by Lee when he was 29, was released in 1986 and announced the emergence of a bold new filmmaking talent. It’s an urgent comedy-drama which broke new ground in its depiction of both urban African-American life in the US and female sexuality. Shot over the course of just 12 days during the summer of ’86, the film was a huge success, taking in over $7m from its initial theatrical run.
The forthcoming Netflix Original is a 10-episode series which will remain loyal to the film’s plot and themes: Nola Darling, now played by DeWanda Wise, is still on a quest to balance her work as a Brooklyn-based artist, her friends, and her three lovers.
Speaking of the idea behind this new project, Lee has said: “It was my wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, producer in her own right, who had the vision to take my film from the big screen and turn it into an episodic series. It had not occurred to me at all. Tonya saw it plain as day. I didn’t.”
She’s Gotta Have It is released on Netflix on 23 November, 2017.
Published 27 Jun 2017
By Grace Wang
His latest stand-up special, Homecoming King, articulates what it means to grow up as an outsider.
This stylish, urgent Chicago-set satire is a major return to form for its director, Spike Lee.
Find out by joining the author of ‘Facing Blackness’ for a special screening of the director’s 2000 film.
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