'Shaft' Reboot Lands 'Ride Along' Director Tim Story
A future Shaft remake has now found a director.
In a report from Deadline, Tim Story (who has directed film series such as Barbershop and Ride Along) has been chosen to direct the reboot. Story joins a team that includes Black-ish creator Kenya Barris as screenwriter, and The Goldbergs producer Alex Barnow as producer.
Not much else is known about the remake aside from it involving the son of the titular character (unlike the previous incarnation, which saw Samuel L. Jackson portraying Shaft's nephew).
Alongside Shaft, classic blaxploitation film Foxy Brown is also being remade, but as a television series. The reboot, which will be developed by Hulu, will feature Meagan Good portraying the titular character (which originally was portrayed by Pam Grier) in a "modern reimagining" of the film. DeVon Franklin and Tony Krantz, both of whom are also working on a remake to 1975's Cooley High, will be serving as executive producers, while Malcom Spellman (of Empire fame) and Ben Watkins will be handling the script.
If you would like to revisit both Shaft and Foxy Brown before their rebooted counterparts are released, there is a movie streaming service that specifically specializes in offering blaxploitation films.
Called Brown Sugar, the service features an extensive library of iconic '70s black movies (and even some of the films they would later inspire), all unedited and commercial free as they were originally viewed in theaters.
Titles include: The Mack; Foxy Brown; Shaft; Super Fly; Dolemite; Cotton Comes To Harlem; Uptown Saturday Night; Cooley High; Three The Hard Way; Coffy; Black Caesar; Five On The Black Hand Side; Cleopatra Jones; Mandingo; Willie Dynamite; Which Way Is Up?; Car Wash; The Original Gangstas and many more.
"Brown Sugar is just like Netflix, only blacker" Grier, who serves as an ambassador for the service, said. "These movies are entertaining and fun, but they were also empowering to the black community as they depicted African Americans as strong leading characters and heroes for the first time."
