Spike Lee has done quite a bit over the course of his decades-long career. Much of what he has accomplished has been trailblazing for the younger non-white filmmakers that have followed. But even though it’s been nearly 35 years since his feature directorial debut, there is still plenty of new ground to cover, including the realm of musicals.
Speaking to Deadline, Lee talked about his upcoming project, a musical about the creation of Viagra, and why it’s time for him to finally make the leap into the singing and dancing genre.
READ MORE: Spike Lee To Direct A Film Musical About The Creation Of Viagra
“It’s a great story,” Lee explained about his Viagra film. “I’ve been wanting to do a musical for a long time, I just didn’t have the idea, with the exception of making my second film ‘School Daze’ into a Broadway musical. So, when the script was brought to my attention, it was the right script at the right time. I mean, I know I’ve had musical elements—there’s a great musicality—in my films. I’m talking about a straight-up all-singing all-dancing musical. God willing, that’s what this next film is going to be.”
Of course, it hasn’t been easy for Lee to make films over the course of his career. As he spoke about recently, he even shared a story from 1984 about how difficult it was for him to secure funding for what could have been his first feature. But Lee thinks times are changing, thanks primarily to the world of streaming, and first-time directors have more opportunities than ever to succeed.
“I would just like to say that there is still independent cinema,” he said. “So independent cinema is alive. Streaming has opened up a whole different avenue for young filmmakers. I’m not going to deny that getting the money, especially, for first-time filmmakers, is hard. That’s always going to be hard. But I think there are many more opportunities for young filmmakers than when I was in film school.”
Lee is no stranger to streaming ventures. His most recent feature film, “Da 5 Bloods,” was released last year via Netflix and is now in the middle of awards discussion. You can watch it now on Netflix.