Spike Lee Says He Won't Be Going to Movie Theaters Until COVID-19 Vaccine Is Out

While some Americans seem so eager to return to large public gatherings that they're willing to risk their own health and the health of others by doing so prematurely, don't expect Spike Lee to participate in any of that, even with regards to the film industry.

The Da 5 Bloods writer/director was asked in a Vanity Fair piece published Thursday about getting back into theaters or resuming productions, stating definitively that neither was feasible for the foreseeable future thanks to COVID-19.

"They ain't doing a thing until the vaccine,” Lee said. "I know I'm not going to a movie theater. I know I'm not going to a Broadway show. I know I'm not going to Yankee Stadium."

Lee also addressed the seriousness of the coronavirus, specifically in terms of how some people appear hesitant to accept this truth in favor of getting back to business. "Corona is a bitch," he told writer Anthony Breznican. "Corona is not playing. You fuck around you're going to get killed, you're going to die. I'm not ready to go."

As for taking measures in the meantime to make a production safe, Lee wondered how shooting a film would even be possible. "I mean, are you going to do a movie by remote, like Saturday Night Live?… I don't know how you do that," he said. "So, we're on pause now."

Catch the full VF piece, which also features commentary on the effects of COVID-19 from Charlize Theron and more, right here.

And while Spike Lee didn't mention the commendable vaccine caveat in his interview with Complex earlier this month, he spoke with similar urgency about his hesitance to hit up a movie theatre at any point in the near future.

"I can't speak for anybody else, but for me, I am not going to any movie theater until November, December," he said. "Maybe next January. The beginning of 2021. Who knows."

Da 5 Bloods, the prolific director's latest joint, hits Netflix June 12.