Earlier this year, director Spike Lee struck a deal with Amazon Studios for an upcoming film called Chiraq, which takes its title from the newly-acquired nickname of the country’s third largest—and recently, most violent—city, Chicago. The nickname arose after a spat of lethal shootings plagued the city last year.
All of which makes today’s news pretty strange. The A.V. Club reported that Chicago natives Kanye West and Jennifer Hudsonwill star in the film, and that—and here’s where it gets weird—the film will be a comedy–musical retelling of the Greek comedy Lysistrata. The ancient play, penned by Aristophanes circa 4oo BC, tells the story of Greek women withholding sex from their partners as a means of forcing them to end the Peloponnesian War. And you think you’ve seen Kanye mad before…
The film will also star Samuel L. Jackson and Chicagoan John Cusack. No word yet on a release date, but we’re pretty sure that, if Kanye’s going to try acting for real, Spike Lee’s probably going to end up with a tragedy. Macbeth comes to mind.
(via A.V. Club)
Originally published May 11, 2:09 p.m.
Updated: May 12, 10:43 a.m.: According to Pitchfork, a representative of West’s denies that the artist will be appearing in Chiraq, though he may contribute to the film’s soundtrack.
