Spike Lee to direct film version of David Byrne’s Broadway show
Spike Lee will direct a film version of David Byrne's 'American Utopia' Broadway show.
Production companies Participant, RadicalMedia, Byrne’s Todomundo, Lee’s Forty Acres and a Mule Filmwork, River Road Entertainment and Warner Music Group will produce the film.
“Pinch me, this couldn’t have worked out better for this project. Spike Lee directing and Participant producing — two socially engaged teams, well, three if you count us in the band, coming together in what I feel will be something moving, important, and unlike anything anyone has seen before” Byrne said in a statement.
“American Utopia is a true celebration from a great artist and a beautiful reminder to our nation that we are all born barefoot and wearing the same suit,” Participant CEO David Linde said in a statement, while RadicalMedia CEO Jon Kamen added, “Stop Making Sense is one of the greatest music performance films ever. To have the opportunity to revisit the genius of David Byrne with American Utopia and produce a bookend film with Spike Lee and [cinematographer] Ellen Kuras is a dream.”
The film’s release date was not announced, nor was the movie’s release detailed. Rolling Stone writes that producers anticipate a 2020 release. The Broadway show was born out of Byrne’s 2018 album of the same title.
