Continuing the trend of talented, mid-budget directors making their way to TV, Spike Lee is making his television debut with a Netflix adaptation of his groundbreaking 1986 debut film She’s Gotta Have It.
A short teaser was released for the television adaptation of She’s Gotta Have It, showcasing that trademark Spike Lee look: a bold style, vivid colors, and even the same graffiti-inspired title card of the original film.
Eye-catching images of black kids and adults in New York flash on the screen as the captions read “A Spike Lee Joint.” We catch brief glimpses of our three main players in movement, staring dead on at the screen — the first is a suited young man taking off his glasses, the second is a smirking man in a leather jacket holding a wine glass, and the last is the titular “She,” Nola, sitting up in bed and staring sensually at the camera.
We get little else from this teaser apart from its premiere date on Thanksgiving Day.
Here’s the official synopsis for the series:
“She’s Gotta Have It the Netflix Original Series from Academy Award® Nominated Director SPIKE LEE is a 10-episode contemporary update of Lee’s 1986 revolutionary debut film. Starring DeWanda Wise (Shots Fired) in the central role of Nola Darling, a Brooklyn-based artist in her late twenties struggling to define herself and divide her time amongst her Friends, her Job and her Three Lovers: Greer Childs played by Cleo Anthony (Divergent), Jamie Overstreet played by Lyriq Bent (The Book of Negroes), and Mars Blackmon played by Hamilton alum Anthony Ramos. Chyna Layne (Precious) and Ilfenesh Hadeara (Baywatch), Margot Bingham (Barbershop: The Next Cut), Sydney Morton (Love, New York), and Joie Lee (Do The Right Thing) also star.”
Lee, who created and produced the show, is set to direct all 10 episodes of the series. Tonya Lewis Lee is executive producer, with Barry Michael Cooper and Lynn Nottage on board as producers.
The first She’s Gotta Have It was shot in 12 days during one summer in 1986, and “changed how African Americans are portrayed in movies,” according to the release. I’ll admit that I’ve never seen it, but I don’t doubt the film’s impact — it launched the monumental career of Lee, of course.
Here’s the trailer for the original She’s Gotta Have It:
This isn’t Lee’s first venture with Netflix, having directed Roger Guenveur Smith’s one-man show Rodney King. It’s to be seen whether Lee will continue working with Netflix, and forgo studio films altogether. His last feature film was 2015’s Chi-Raq which was the first film produced by Amazon Studios.
All 10 episodes of She’s Gotta Have It premiere on Netflix on November 23.
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