Lee to Revisit ‘L.A. Riots’

Quick Links  L.A. Riots  Spike Lee  Inside Man  Do the Right Thing

No stranger to controversy, director Spike Lee has signed on with Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment to helm a feature length retelling of the April 29, 1992 riots that threatened to destroy Los Angeles. The riots followed the acquittal by an all white jury of LAPD officers who were videotaped beating motorist Rodney King. The revisit will bring Lee further into the realm of pseudo-documentary, following his film for HBO Pictures “When the Levees Broke” which chronicled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans. Brian Grazer (“Friday Night Lights”, “24”(TV)) is set to produce the flick, which will be penned by John Ridley (“Third Watch”(TV)).

Grazer and Lee clicked on the idea for the project and feel that the timing is appropriate to revisit the memories and pursue the underlying essence of the events, rather than the stark images that flooded the airwaves. Grazer was quoted as saying, “I was most interested in looking at the idea of universal group dynamics that manifest themselves under the highest amount of stress and to get all these points of view as they converge into each other and ignite in flames.” The film has poignant memories for Lee as well. “[It] was the very first time that Terry Semel and Bob Daly saw ‘Malcolm X,’ when they were running Warner Bros.,” Lee said. “All the things Malcolm X was talking about were happening…you could see it in their faces, watching this movie, wondering if L.A. was burning down, and if the world was coming to an end…it was very scary.”

The film is not the only project Lee has on the table, he is also working on a sequel to Inside Man for Universal and Grazer. The director hopes to have the preliminary script for “L.A. Riots” penned and delivered to the execs at Universal before they vacate for the holidays. Current plans indicate that “Riots” may supercede “Inside Man” as Lee’s next feature helm.