Just before its premiere at the 71st International Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee’s latest film released its first trailer. Produced by Jordan Peele, BlacKkKlansman stars John David Washington (Ballers), Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Topher Grace (That ’70s Show) as KKK leader David Duke.
Check out the trailer for BlacKkKlansman below:
Based on on Ron Stallworth’s own 2014 memoir “Black Klansman,” with the screenplay adapted by Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz as well as by Spike Lee and Kevin Willmont. The film is the true story of how African-American police officer Ron Stallworth successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in 1978 Colorado Springs, Colorado. By pretending to be a white supremacist over the phone and sending a white officer in his place for in-person meetings, he was able to become the head of the local KKK chapter and sabotage their activities from within.
“The most outrageous part [about the film] is that it’s factual, that this happened,” Washington told Entertainment Weekly about the movie. “That’s why it’s so…everything in it, you’ll see, how extreme and eye-opening and surprising the events that happened are, but what tops it off [for] me, what makes it all come together, is that this really happened. This is American history.”
The movie just debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, for which it is competing for the Palme d’Or, and some early reactions are already pouring in:
In addition to writing the screenplay, Lee also serves as producer along with Jordan Peele, Jason Blum, Sean McKittrick, Raymond Mansfield, and Shaun Redick.
Check out the pretty great poster for the film as well, which was released just a couple days after the trailer dropped online:
BlacKkKlansman is set to open on August 10, 2018.
Images: Focus Features
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