Despite a pandemic permanently shutting down the industry, Spike Lee had a very busy year in 2020 - he gave us the critically-acclaimed “Da 5 Bloods,” and the extraordinary David Byrne concert documentary “American Utopia.”
Lee took a year off last year, but I’m being told he’s now hard at work on his next film, which is a musical based on the the invention of Viagra. Production is set to begin in early 2023.
I can confirm the film is titled “Rise” and will very much be told via the musical genre. Tackling the discovery of that little blue pill, the screenplay is written by Lee and Kwame Kwei-Armah. The source material will David Kushner’s excellent Esquire article “All Rise: The Untold Story of The Guys Who Launched Viagra.”
Inspired by Pfizer’s discovery and launch of Viagra, originally intended as a heart-related drug, the original songs will be written by Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald, creators of the Tony-winning musical “Passing Strange.”
Lee is the maverick director behind such landmarks as “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,” and “The 25th Hour.” He’s been going at it now as a director for more than 35 years. Anything he does should be paid attention to.
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.