Hooray, everyone! You can stop making regret-filled movements to take your wallet out to possibly donate money to Spike Lee’s “Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint” via his Kickstarter campaign, because it has officially surpassed the $1.25 million goal! Not only that, but it’s sitting at $1.3 million with four days still left to go. It’s a pretty huge deal, and Lee is very thankful for its success, as you can tell by the following tweet.
You’d think he’d have thanked the supporters first, seeing as how Jesus probably didn’t drop a dime on this project, but maybe I’m just being cynical. He also put out a prideful thank-filled video to mark the occasion, which you can watch in the Tweet above. And while I’m not saying this in judgment at all, it seems like Lee had been celebrating a little before recording it, as his words seem more slurred than usual. “40 Acres…40 Acres and a Mule. We been doing this motherfucker…since 198-muhfucking-6.” It’s too bad he’s so subdued, as a rowdy celebration would have been more fun to watch. Catch the video, and do like Malcolm says.
Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long for him to reach the goal, as Lee is one of the most respected filmmakers across the world, regardless of his numerous naysayers. I have a feeling if he’d gotten into this project immediately after last year’s Red Hook Summer, he might have reached his target a little earlier. Instead, it comes after his questionable remake of Park Chan-wook'’s modern classic Oldboy, which audiences have yet to get a look at.
As well, the subject matter for this new film doesn’t exactly jibe with the oft-racially driven subject matter he’s been associated with since 198-muhfuckin’-6. Described as a psychological thriller about people with a thirst for blood, the film automatically sounds like a vampire movie, though he has denied rumors of that sort. He’s already landed his leading lady in U.K. actress Zaraah Abrahams (Waterloo Road), but there hasn’t been any other news about the project, probably because he was waiting to see how much money he could net first. Incidentally, one of the 5,000+ backers was Steven Soderbergh, who donated $10,000 to the project.
Check out the Oldboy trailer below to get an idea of where Lee’s head is at these days.
