We still don’t know when Spike Lee will begin work on his latest feature film, following the critical and financial success of “BlacKkKlansman.” However, according to Variety, in the meantime, Lee is going to team up with Roger Geunveur Smith for another adaptation of a one-man stage show.
The report says that Lee will direct the film version of Smith’s latest one-man show, “Frederick Douglass Now.” The show, starring Smith, tells the story of historical icon Frederick Douglass. Using real-life current events mixed with historical information, Smith raps about the life of Douglass, who is best known for was one of the foremost activists for the abolition of slavery before Abraham Lincoln took office.
Lee and Smith have collaborated numerous times, both with stage adaptations and the filmmaker’s more well-known feature films. Their last collaboration was in 2017’s “Rodney King,” which was another one-man show starring Smith, and was picked up for distribution by Netflix. Previous to that, Smith’s show “A Huey P. Newton Story” was adapted by Lee.
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However, in addition to that, Smith has shown up in various Spike Lee films dating back to “School Daze” in 1988. Their most recent feature film collab was in 2015’s “Chi-raq.”
There’s no word on a release date for “Frederick Douglass Now,” but we assume that it’ll happen fairly soon, with the word on distribution to follow. However, Netflix sure does enjoy sticking with creators, so it wouldn’t be a shock if the stage show adaptation ends up on the streaming service in the future.