Spike Lee is set to direct a film adaption of David Byrne’s American Utopia Broadway show

The stage show, based on Byrne’s 2018 album of the same name, is getting the big-screen treatment.

February 02, 2020
Spike Lee is set to direct a film adaption of David Byrne’s <i>American Utopia</i> Broadway show Image via Mike Lawrie/Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images  

Spike Lee is set to direct a film adaption of David Byrne's Broadway show American Utopia, according to Deadline.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Broadway show debuted back in November of 2019 and will end its five-month run later this month. “Pinch me,” said Byrne in a statement on the news of the film, which will be produced by Participant, River Road Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and RadicalMedia alongside Byrne's Todomundo and Lee's Forty Acres and a Mule. “This couldn’t have worked out better for this project. Spike Lee directing and Participant producing — two socially engaged teams, well, three, if you count us in the band, coming together in what I feel, will be something moving, important, and unlike anything, anyone has seen before.”

Based on the 2018 album by Byrne of the same name, American Utopia is a stage experience that Vanity Fair describes as "not quite a musical, but [not just] a concert." It finds Byrne bringing a bolder version of the album's supporting world tour to life through his solo work and music as frontman of Talking Heads alongside a handful of covers including Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout". Byrne previously faced criticism for not featuring a single woman on the album, which boasted appearances from Sampha, Dev Hynes, and Oneohtrix Point.

ADVERTISEMENT

No release date has yet been set for the film adaption.

Spike Lee is set to direct a film adaption of David Byrne’s American Utopia Broadway show