Lee is directing the film from a screenplay written by him and collaborator Kevin Willmott, based on an original screenplay by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo and a rewrite by Matthew Billingsly.
Delroy Lindo and Jean Reno are also in talks to star. Netflix is in negotiations to land the project. Lee will produce the film with Beatriz Levin & Lloyd Levin, and Jon Kilik.
“Da 5 Bloods” will be the iconic filmmaker’s first directorial project following last year’s “BlacKkKlansman,” which has been nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and the “Malcolm X” and “Do The Right Thing” director’s first Best Director nomination.
Lee collaborated with Willmott on “BlacKkKlansman” as well.
Boseman is coming off two of the biggest films of 2018 in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther,” which was also nominated for best picture at the Oscars. Boseman, this year, will appear in “Avengers: Endgame” and alongside Taylor Kitsch in STX Entertainment’s cop drama “17 Bridges.”
Lee is repped by ICM Partners and Boseman is repped by Michael Greene and Associates and Management 360. Lindo is repped by APA.
Every Black Director Nominated for an Oscar, From John Singleton to Spike Lee (Photos)
Spike Lee became only the sixth black director to receive an Oscar nomination in the Academy's history for his work on "BlackKklansman." But so far, no black filmmaker has won in that category.
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John Singleton, "Boyz N the Hood" (1991) • Two years after Spike Lee was passed over for a nomination for "Do the Right Thing," John Singleton became the first African American to earn a Best Director nomination for his star-studded drama set in South Central L.A. That year, Jonathan Demme won the award for "The Silence of the Lambs."
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Lee Daniels, "Precious" (2009) • Eighteen years passed before a second African American filmmaker was recognized: Lee Daniels, for his gritty portrait of a young woman seeking to overcome a childhood of poverty and abuse. In another Oscar first, Kathryn Bigelow became the first female director to win the Oscar, for "The Hurt Locker."
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Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave" (2013) • British director Steve McQueen gritty drama about American slavery picked up nine nominations, including one for his directing. While the film won Best Picture (and McQueen earned a statuette as a producer), he lost the directing prize to "Gravity" filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón.
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Barry Jenkins, "Moonlight" (2016) • Jenkins' underdog indie pulled off a major upset, beating front-runner "La La Land" for Best Picture. But Damien Chazelle claimed the directing prize for the modern-day musical. (Jenkins did take home the statuette for Best Adapted Screenplay.)
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Jordan Peele, "Get Out" (2017) • Peele became the latest actor-turned-filmmaker to earn a Best Director nod, for his feature filmmaking debut. Peele won an Oscar for his original screenplay but Guillermo del Toro won Best Director for "The Shape of Water."
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Spike Lee, "BlackKklansman" (2018) • Despite wide acclaim for such films as 1989's "Do the Right Thing" and 1992's "Malcolm X," the pioneering filmmaker earned his first nomination decades into his career for this fact-based tale of a black undercover cop who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan.
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Spike Lee finally makes the cut for “BlackKklansman”
Spike Lee became only the sixth black director to receive an Oscar nomination in the Academy's history for his work on "BlackKklansman." But so far, no black filmmaker has won in that category.