Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman will open in U.S. theaters on August 10, the day of the first anniversary of the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Focus Features movie (previously titled Black Klansman) is based on the real-life story of Ron Stallworth, the first black police officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who went undercover in 1978 to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
The officer, played by John David Washington in the film, and his partner (Adam Driver) are able to penetrate the Klan at the highest levels and stop a takeover of the city. During his undercover work, Stallworth also managed to sabotage several cross burnings and other activities of the racist group.
Laura Harrier and Topher Grace also star in the film.
Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw is producing BlacKkKlansman, alongside QC Entertainment, Blumhouse, Lee and Shaun Reddick.
On Aug. 12, 2017, white nationalists and counter-protestors clashed in Charlottesville over the removal of Confederate monuments. The event turned violent when a man with ties to white-supremacist groups drove his car into a crowd of counter-protestors, killing one woman and injuring several others.
