Back in February 2015, New Line Cinema announced they were developing aShaft remake, withJohn Davisproducing through his Davis Entertainment company. At the time, no writer or director had been attached to the project, but that has all changed. Today a new report claims thatTim Storyis in negotiations to direct, from a script byBlack-ishcreatorKenya BarrisandAlex Barnow. This report also confirms that the project will follow another relative ofRichard Roundtree’s original title character.
Deadlinereports that New Line plans to “reinvigorate” the franchise by focusing this reboot on the son of John Shaft, who is navigating the murky area between law enforcement and organized crime in New York City. No specific plot details were revealed, but this format could potentially allowRichard Roundtreeto return as John Shaft, andSamuel L. Jacksonto also come back as his nephew, also named John Shaft. It isn’t clear if the studio plans on bringing both of those characters back, but it would be possible since it’s not a complete reboot.
The original movie released in 1971, based onErnest Tidyman’s novel and directed byGordon Parks, became acult classicand one of the most successful ‘blaxploittion’ films of the 1970s. The movie, which also featured an iconic score byIsaac Hayes, grossed $13 million from a $500,000 budget.Richard Roundtreereturned as the title character in two sequels, 1972sShaft’s Big Scoreand 1973’sShaft in Africa, along with a short-livedShaftTV series which only ran for seven episodes in 1974. The 2000Shaftremake starringSamuel L. Jackson, which was directed byJohn Singleton, earned $70.3 million domestically and $107.1 million worldwide from a $46 million budget.
ProducerJohn Davisis no stranger to reboots, producing both the originalPredatorand the 2010 rebootPredators. He is also returning to produce 20th Century Fox’sThe Predator, which will be directed byShane Black. Most recently, he producedThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.,Victor Frankenstein,Joy, and he has been keeping busy on the small screen as well. He currently produces two hit NBC shows,The BlacklistandTimeless. He is also producing a number of upcoming projects such asI, Robot 2,Selling Time,Protection,Game NightandZara.
Tim Storyfirst burst onto the scene with his hit 2002 comedyBarbershop, which lead to a pair of big-budget movies,TaxistarringQueen LatifahandJimmy Fallonin 2004, andFantastic Fourin 2005, withIoan Gruffuud,Jessica Alba,Chris EvansandMichael Chiklis. He also directedFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,Think Like a Man,Ride Along,Think Like a Man 2,Ride Along 2and he has recently been confirmed to return forRide Along 3. It remains to be seen whenShaftwill start filming, or when casting will begin.
