New Line Cinema is bringing back Shaft for an upcoming sequel. Can ya dig it? Richard Roundtree is returning to the title that made him a screen icon, but not as the lead. The upcoming reboot of Shaft will star Samuel L. Jackson and Jesse T. Usher.
Alexandra Shipp from Straight Outta Compton and X-Men: Apocalypse is said to be in final talks to be the leading lady in the movie.
According to the new original synopsis:
“Working for the FBI, estranged from his father and determined not to be anything like him, John Shaft Jr. reluctantly enlists his father’s help to find out who killed his best friend Karim and bring down a drug-trafficking/money-laundering operation in NYC.”
Tim Story, who directed Barbershop, Fantastic Four 2, Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ride Along and Kevin Hart: What Now?, will helm New Line’s Shaft reboot, according to reports.
Recently, Tim Story directed the pilot for the Showtime series White Famous, based on Jamie Foxx’s early career and will star Jay Pharoah. He shot Humbug, a remake of A Christmas Carol that will star Ice Cube for Universal Pictures and Motown Hustle, which is coming out from Fox.
The screenplay for the action comedy is written by Kenya Barris (creator of Black-ish) and Alex Barnow (The Goldbergs). According to reports, it “will have a comedic tone but…retain its action roots.”
Shaft started out as a novel by Ernest Tidyman that was published in 1970. New York City private detective John Shaft is a complicated man who takes the job of finding a mobster’s missing daughter. Gordon Parks directed the film adaptation in 1971. The movie made Richard Roundtree, currently doing an extended stint on Chicago Fire, an icon. Shaft took Hollywood behind the middle school and produced two sequels, Shaft’s Big Score in 1972 and Shaft in Africa in 1973.
In 2000, John Singleton directed a loose sequel featuring Samuel L. Jackson as the nephew of the original badass, Christian Bale, Jeffrey Wright, Vanessa Williams, Elizabeth Banks and Toni Collette for Paramount. It sold $70 million at the box office.
Shaft starts filming next month.
