Yet another reinvention of blaxploitation detective Shaft is on the way and there’s at least one person who isn’t very happy about it.
The announcement was made earlier this week that Kenya Barris, creator of hit new sitcom Black-ish, would be behind a new film based on the character originally played by Richard Roundtree in 1971. While the new film, from studio New Line, will retain the original’s action roots, there will also be added comedic elements.
It’s this new addition that has irked David Walker, who writes the Shaft comics, as well as Shaft’s Revenge, the first official book in four decades authorised by the estate of creator Ernest Tidyman. In an open letter, published online, Walker has claimed that the studio is “more interested in shitting the bed than making a good Shaft movie”.
He goes on to write: “Don’t make this a comedy. It will suck. It won’t make money. And in doing so, it will ruin the chances of there ever being a decent Shaft movie in the remainder of my lifetime.”
He then references the poor box-office performance of similar comedies such as Undercover Brother, and compared it with the recent success of Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer remake.
“If you decide you want to make a serious attempt at producing a good Shaft movie – one that makes money and launches a viable franchise – you know how to find me,” he wrote.
The last reboot of the character was in 2000 starring Samuel L Jackson in the lead role. It made $107m worldwide and received mixed reviews. The original film was a cult hitand was followed by two sequels as well as a spin-off TV show.
