Spike Lee's currently hard-at-work shooting his newest movie, the Amazon-funded Chi-Raq, but it looks as though he's not too busy to give his time to other projects. Specifically NBA 2K16, as he writes and directs a single-player campaign for the new video game.
The Associated Press got the exclusive. The filmmaker, also a die-hard Knicks fan, uses the game to tell the story of Frequency Vibrations (?!), a basketball player personal life off-the-court is as demanding as his time playing ball.
"It's about the trials and tribulations of life on a big stage with the money, fame, temptations, family members, the press, fans, all that stuff," Lee said in the report.
As for how he came aboard, Lee revealed 2K Games asked him to do it and he agreed. Simple as that. This continues the advancements Visual Concepts, the developer behind the game series, create to give their games cinematic elements throughout the past five years. The filmmaker focused with this project to incorporate realistic performances, even though the voices and movements were all digitally recorded. Apparently the process far easier than the Academy Award-nominated director expected.
"I didn't really realize how quick it was going to be," Lee said. "We didn't have to do costumes, makeup or hair. We didn't have to move props around. We didn't have to move from location to location. Everything was just there."
And while the director is known for his R-rated material, he stressed this will be an E-rated game. Lee apparently "understood this from the get-go" but "he didn't take his foot off the gas because of that" and "he still brought the drama," according to Jeff Thomas, vice president of sports development for Visual Concepts.
NBA 2K16 comes to stores on Sept. 29, 2015 for PS3, PS4, PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, according to International Business Times. In the meantime, production on Lee's new movie is expected to go through July 10 in Chicago, with a cast that includes Dave Chappelle, Wesley Snipes, Nick Cannon, John Cusack, and potentially Common, Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Hudson.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com