Jordan Peele and Spike Lee are bringing the real-life story of a black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan to the big screen. John David Washington (Ballers) is expected to star in Peele and Lee's Black Klansman, the Hollywood Reporterannounced Friday. Lee will direct and produce, while Peele will produce under his Monkeypaw Productions banner alongside Blumhouse Productions' Jason Blum.
The film is an adaptation of a memoir of the same name by Ron Stallworth, a detective who successfully infiltrated a local Colorado Springs KKK chapter in the late '70s. Not only did Stallworth gain membership, but he also ended up the head of a local chapter. During his tenure, Stallworth worked to gather intelligence over the phone while sending a white cop on his behalf for all in-person encounters. As a result of Stallworth's efforts, multiple cross-burnings and other KKK activities were halted.
The adapted screenplay boasts credits from Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmont, and Lee. According toTHR, Peele and Lee have actually been "quietly working" on Black Klansman for at least two years. A release date has not been announced.
Jordan Peele's runaway hit Get Out, his directorial debut, was recently named the most profitable movie of 2017. Peele's film bagged more than $250 million worldwide against a modest $4.5 million budget. The only other film in the same ballpark financially was M. Night Shyamalan's Split. Like Get Out, Split was also released under the Blumhouse banner.
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