Despite enjoying a lengthy and successful career that’s spanned over 35 years, brought no shortage of critical acclaim and landed him an Academy Award win from five nominations and a reputation as one of the defining filmmakers of his generation, Spike Lee has never exactly been the person that the major studios turn to when looking for someone to tackle a big budget blockbuster.
The only entry in his filmography that saw him even come close to operating as a hand for hire was the Oldboy remake, which turned out to be a disastrous move when it was widely panned by critics and sank without a trace at the box office after only managing to earn a little over $5 million on a $30 million budget.
In fact, both the most expensive and most successful film of his career remains slick crime thriller Inside Man, with the $45 million effort pulling in a solid $184 million globally, proving that Lee was more than capable of delivering glossy, crowd-pleasing entertainment when the occasion called for it.
The 63 year-old is currently in the thick of the awards season race thanks to Netflix’s Vietnam drama Da 5 Bloods, and in a new interview, he admitted that he’s definitely open to the possibility of directing a Marvel movie, but DC has never been his thing.
“I have nothing against Marvel. I grew up reading Spider-Man comic books. To me, DC Comics was always corny. I’m just saying. I was all about Marvel. If the right opportunity comes across, I’m not campaigning for it, but I will give it consideration.”
Imagining the signature Marvel Studios title card being followed by ‘A Spike Lee Joint’ is a bizarre proposition that seems very unlikely to happen, although he did flirt with helming Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff Nightwatch a couple of years back. Then again, he was rumored to be under consideration for the Blade reboot in the past and with Mahershala Ali actively seeking out black talent to steer the creative ship, he might just find himself attached to an MCU project in the near future.
Published: Feb 13, 2021 10:36 am