Lee’s latest, Da 5 Bloods, is part war epic, part adventure flick, and all fantastic.

Whether it’s romantic comedy ( She’s Gotta Have It), thriller ( Inside Man), biopic ( Malcolm X), or documentary ( The Original Kings of Comedy), there’s little that Lee can’t do. And Lee brings his unique voice and special talents to just about any genre. Lee’s voice frequently speaks to the plights and grievances of the Black community not only in his native neighborhood of New York City and Brooklyn, but to an entire nation. There aren’t many directors out there better suited to speak to this specific moment than Spike Lee. From there, Lee has only built his legend, spending the next 34 years making movies, shows, and documentaries-or, as he famously calls them, “Spike Lee Joints,” that are not only expertly made, but uniquely and unapologetically Spike. 'I'll be calling you soon about becoming financially involved in helping us complete it.'īy the time the film was actually complete, his budget maxed out a sparse $175,000-and the film ended up making $7.1 million at the box office. “I'm Spike Lee and I hope that you liked the film,' he told the crowd.

So he had an idea-he showed a rough cut of the movie at NYU, and when the movie ended, he took the mic. Even then, he didn’t have enough money to get through the movie’s post-production period.

Spike Lee shot his first feature film, 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It, over a 12-day period on a scraped-together budget from things like State and City grants, with favors from his family, and deferred payments for his actors.

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