Spike Lee's unrealized projects

The following is a list of unproduced Spike Lee projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director and producer Spike Lee has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, fell in development hell or are officially canceled.

Ace in the Hole remake
In the 1990s, Lee reportedly wanted to remake 1951's Ace in the Hole, directed by Billy Wilder.

Save Me, Joe Louis
In July 2000, Lee acquired the rights to make a film about Joe Louis from a script he wrote with boxing expert Bert Randolph Sugar and scriptwriting legend Budd Schulberg under the title Save Me, Joe Louis. The movie was focused on Louis' fights with Max Schmeling with Arnold Schwarzenegger interested in playing Schmeling. In July 2006, Schulberg mentioned that Lee talked with Terrence Howard to play Louis. The film fell into development hell because Lee didn't get half of the budget he needed. In 2018, Lee reaffirmed his intention to make the film, following the death of Schulberg: "'During Budd's last year, he would always call me once a week saying 'Spike did you get the money yet? Spike did you get the money yet?' And I made a promise to Budd that one day, soon, that we'd get the money, and I'm gonna keep that promise and get that film made.'"

Selling Time
In May 2006, Lee was set to direct 20th Century Fox's supernatural thriller Selling Time, with Tom Cruise in talks to star. In January 2014, D.J. Caruso took over directing the movie from Lee, with Dan McDermott writing a new draft and Will Smith is rumored to star in the movie. However, plans fell in development hell and its fate is unknown after the Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was completed.

NoLa TV series
In September 2006, Lee was planning to follow up his HBO documentary When the Levees Broke with a fictionalized dramatic series for NBC set in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. The series, titled NoLa, was being pitched as an ensemble piece centering on a multicultural group of residents from various different backgrounds, attempting to rebuild their lives after the hurricane. Lee planned to executive produce and direct the pilot if NBC decided to move forward with the project, which he developed with writer Sid Quashie.

Time Traveler
In June 2008, it was announced that Lee was going to adapt Ronald Mallett's memoir Time Traveler: A Scientist’s Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality into a feature film. The film was to have been titled Time Traveler and Lee was to have co-written and directed it. On July 27, 2015, Mallett reported that Lee and screenwriter Ian Harnarine were "in negotiations about how to proceed regarding a feature film of my book, Time Traveler."

L.A. Riots
In July 2008, Lee was set to direct the film L.A. Riots, with John Ridley and Terry George writing the script and Brian Grazer producing the film. In August 2012, Justin Lin was set to direct L.A. Riots, since Lee didn't get enough money and ended up working on Miracle at St. Anna. There has been no further announcements since.

Now the Hell Will Start
In February 2009, Lee acquired the rights to Brendan Koerner's novel Now the Hell Will Start, a World War II manhunt in the Burmese jungle. However, plans fell into development hell.

Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson
On April 21, 2010, Samuel L. Jackson announced that Lee showed him a script that he wrote titled Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson. The script, according to Jackson, was "about these folks who want to have a big concert in a Brooklyn park for Michael. And the new gentrified people that live in the neighborhood are worried about the kind of element that might be coming into the neighborhood." On January 24, 2011, it was announced that Lee scrapped the project.

Da Brick TV pilot
On June 21, 2011, HBO announced they would develop a pilot for the series Da Brick, with Lee directing the pilot, written by John Ridley and executive-produced by Lee, Ridley, Mike Tyson, and Doug Ellin, based on Tyson's childhood, and John Boyega was cast as the lead, Donnie. In March 2012, HBO passed on the pilot.

Nagasaki Deadline
On June 28, 2010, Lee was announced to direct the thriller Nagasaki Deadline with David Griffiths, Peter Griffiths, William Broyles Jr. writing the script and Lightstorm Entertainment producing the film. However, plans fell into development hell.

Untitled Marion Barry biopic
In December 2011, Lee was set to direct and produce a biopic of Marion Barry with Eddie Murphy set to play Barry, and John Ridley writing the script for HBO Films. There has been no further announcements since.

Porgy and Bess remake
In August 2012, Lee was in negotiations with the George Gershwin estate to direct the Porgy and Bess remake. In April 2013, Both the Gershwin Family and the DuBose Heyward estate announced a remake is in development without Lee's involvement. On February 11, 2020, Dee Rees was hired to write and direct the remake.

Enter the Dragon remake
In September 2014, Lee was in negotiations to direct the remake of Enter the Dragon with Ken Jeong set to play Lee and Billy Bob Thornton set to play Roper. In 2015, Brett Ratner revealed that he replaced Lee as director, and in 2018, David Leitch was in early talks to direct.

Nightwatch
By September 2017, Sony Pictures was actively developing a film based on the character Nightwatch for their Sony's Spider-Man Universe, with a script from Edward Ricourt. Sony wanted Lee to direct the film, and he was confirmed to be interested in the project in March 2018, with Cheo Hodari Coker re-writing the script. However, Lee was no longer involved by October.

Archer TV series
In August 2017, it was announced that Lee was developing Archer, a TV series with a "young, black Mark Zuckerberg-like protagonist" who develops a dating app that reads sexual chemistry.

Frederick Douglass Now
In November 2018, Lee was set up to direct a film version of the stage show by Roger Guenveur Smith, Frederick Douglass Now.

Prince of Cats
In November 2019, Lee closed a deal to direct the long-gestated Prince of Cats film, based on the graphic novel.

Boner
In November 2020, studio eOne and Lee were prepping a then-untitled film about the breakthrough of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. Lee was to have directed from a screenplay co-written with Kwame Kwei-Armah, based on the 2015 Esquire article "All Rise: The Untold Story of The Guys Who Launched Viagra". Lee described the project as a "dancin', all singin' musical", featuring original songs and music written by Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald. Production was set to begin in early 2023 under the title Rise, though Lee later reported that it had been retitled Boner.

Da Saga of Colin Kaepernick documentary
In February 2022, it had been reported that Lee was to film a multipart documentary for ESPN on former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, featuring extensive interviews and access to his personal archive. In December of that year, the documentary was given the title of Da Saga of Colin Kaepernick, and Lee revealed he had been working on the series for over a year.

Untitled ROTC drama series
In November 2022, Lee came aboard as director and executive producer of an untitled coming-of-age drama developed at Amazon Studios. Written by Jalysa Conway and Rebecca Murga, the series was to have been set in the world of an ROTC military program at a major university.

Da Understudy
In 2023, Lee was circling to direct Da Understudy, with Jonathan Majors attached to star and produce from Westbrook Studios and Amazon Studios. Tom Hanada, Zach Strauss and Tyler Cole wrote the screenplay, based on an original story by Cole about an "understudy of a Broadway production [who] finds a role he's willing to kill for," as reported by Deadline Hollywood.