Hollywood, CA — Controversial director Spike Lee says he’s in negotiation with Warner Bros. films to produce and direct an updated version of Mel Brooks’ 1974 film Blazing Saddles. The 63-year-old director, actor, and screenwriter, whose film catalog includes Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), and the recent critically acclaimed BlacKkKlansman (2018), said he was excited to direct the movie “that could never be made today.”
Over the decades, many including Mel Brooks, have claimed the controversial Blazing Saddles, which outrageously lampoons racism, bigotry, and flatulence bias, could not be made due to increasing “political correctness.”
“I’d like to state that Spike Lee does not say that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody,” said Mr. Lee on his Twitter feed. “Any film I do is not going to change the way black people have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D.W. Griffith. But I’m going to do my best.”
Although not confirmed at press time, those close to the project, which is also tentatively titled Blazing Saddles, says that Spike Lee plans on “flipping the script” by making Sheriff Bart and a white, suburban woman, surrounded by an all-black township. Other details about the film include the town remaining Rockridge; however, the governor, portrayed by Mel Brooks in the original, will be replaced by comedian Chris Rock. No word on who will play the Waco Kid.
“If the rumors are correct, it makes sense why Spike Lee would deconstruct the classic in this manner,” said Professor James Badwater of the University of Chicago’s Badwater Institute for Culture and Avante Garde Film Studies. “By making the cast all black, this allows him and the cast to explore themes more deeply than even Mel Brooks did.”
Aging, white fans of the original have rejoiced at the prospect of repeat politically incorrect slurs.
“I’ve told people for years that the libtards have made it possible to exercise my god-given right to use the N-word whenever I see fit,” said Cliven Birch (61) of Midland, Texas. “Now that the blacks are making the movie, we can all go back to callin’ people like we should. Somebody call Ann Coulter.”
A spokesman for Mel Brooks commented that the aging director was “indeed aware of the project and has given it his blessing.” Mr. Brooks will be a consultant on the project.
Casting details are slim at this point, but Sheriff Bart is slated to go to actress Jennifer Lawrence, with Dave Chappelle coming on board to modernize and “update the script,” according to at least one person close to the project. The Blazing Saddles redo is scheduled to start filming next summer, with a release by Thanksgiving 2021.
