Spike Lee is going back to his roots in more ways than one with Chi-Raq, his controversial (to those who haven't seen it) film tackling the issue of gun violence, not just in Chicago but across the country. While the subject is a tough one and fully in Lee's wheelhouse, the satirical approach he takes is similar to what he pulled off with Bamboozled. While there are sobering, hard-hitting moments, Lee often uses humor and music to get his point across, and you can see elements of that in the latest trailer.
Starring Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, D.B. Sweeney, Harry Lennix, Steve Harris, Angela Bassett, John Cusack and some hilarious narration by Samuel L. Jackson, the film is partially based on the Greek comedy Lysistrata. But it also draws inspiration from Liberian activist Leymah Roberta Gbowee, who encouraged women to go on a sex strike to help facilitate peace.
Chi-Raq is Amazon Studios' first major release and opens December 4th.
