Hey folks, Harry here... Well, the big news of the day is that Tim Story is set to direct a new take on SHAFT! Now, if you haven't seen the original films directed by Gordon Parks and starring the fucking phenomenal Richard Roundtree... Go educate yourself. And for good measure, also watch SUPERFLY (the even cooler film from the era) Now sure, John Singleton did that 'continuation' with his Samuel L Jackson SHAFT not too long ago, but if you remember... that was a fairly sexless endeavour and felt like the character had been a bit emasculated. SHAFT is about more than crime & punishment... it is also about sweet loving.
Now... Tim Story doesn't fill me with confidence. His FANTASTIC FOUR movies were pretty much an insult to the holy 4-color pages of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. His RIDE ALONG movies with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart are light confections, that are gag flicks. SHAFT needs to have more swagger. If they cast Kevin Hart or Ice Cube I'm gonna scream. We need SHAFT to be a man of action on the streets and between the sheets. If I could recommend any cinema for Tim Story to check out before making this new SHAFT, it'd be HANZO THE RAZOR: SWORD OF JUSTICE, HANZO THE RAZOR: THE SNARE and HANZO THE RAZOR: WHO'S GOT THE GOLD? - those films are more SHAFT than SHAFT.
Tim's going to be making the film for NEW LINE. SHAFT is a romantic action character - not unlike James Bond, but on the streets & alleys of New York City. Tim's never made a film that even approaches the tone that SHAFT should hit. I hope he can do it. The world needs SHAFT, cuz whether we like it or not, we'll all be shafted soon enough...
Keep it cool,
Harry
