Stating the obvious, Spike Lee suspects he won't be making a movie with Warner Bros. or Paramount anytime soon.
In a new interview with Variety, Lee was asked about David Ellison's Paramount Skydance absorbing Warner Bros. Discovery. He suggested the merger could mean “one less place” willing to finance a Spike Lee joint. He was careful to say he isn't rooting for that outcome, but he didn't back away from his assessment either:
I don't think it's a crazy statement based on my politics and them guys
"Them guys," of course, refers to David and Larry Ellison and their ties to Donald Trump, which (who are we kidding here?) were the primary spark behind the pushback this merger received.
Lee, now 69, has spent decades as one of the industry's most outspoken anti-Trump voices. More recently, his public support for Palestinians certainly hasn't helped his chances of securing backing from the Ellisons.
Lee tells Variety that his pro-Palestinian stance has brought him a steady stream of hate mail. Asked about the backlash against the equally outspoken Mark Ruffalo, he said the pro-Israel lobby is "very powerful," and if you get on their "list," they're "not going to make life easy." Still, he insists he won't bend for Ellison.
Then again, Lee hasn't made a narrative feature for Warner Bros. since "Malcolm X," which came out 34 years ago. There's also "Bamboozled," released in 2000 by New Line, then a Time Warner company and now a Warner Bros. label. His one Paramount release is the 2000 stand-up concert film "The Original Kings of Comedy."
Lee is coming off "Highest 2 Lowest," from Apple Original Films and A24. In fact, his last two narrative features were both backed by streamers, the other being Netflix's "Da 5 Bloods" (2020). There's no word yet on what his next film will be, and he's still trying to secure financing for "Save Us, Joe Louis," his long-gestating Joe Louis biopic. But you can bet the house it won't be coming from WarnerMount.
That's the state of things, folks. The guy who gave us “The Fly,” “Videodrome,” “Dead Ringers,” “Crash” has a finished script based on his own book, and it might not happen.