The actress is in final negotiations to join Samuel L. Jackson and Jessie T. Usher in 'Son of Shaft', a reboot of 2000's 'Shaft'.
- Nov 21, 2017
AceShowbiz - Alexandra Shipp is known for her role as young Storm in "X-Men" prequel films. The actress now is in talks to be a female lead as well as the main character's love interest in "Son of Shaft" alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Roundtree and Jessie T. Usher, as reported by Deadline.
Tim Story, who directed "Ride Along", will helm the reboot. The story will follow Shaft's son who has to team up with his father to work on a case. The partnership can be described as "old school meets new school." The storyline of the reboot says, "Working for the FBI, estranged from his father and determined not to be anything like him, John Shaft Jr. (Usher) reluctantly enlists his father's (Jackson) help to find out who killed his best friend Karim and bring down a drug-trafficking/money-laundering operation in NYC."
After long overdue, the decision of making "Shaft" reboot could be inspired by Jackson's film "The Hitman's Bodyguard", an action comedy that pairs Jackson's character with a young character in various misadventures. /Film previously reported that Story wanted the reboot to have a comedic tone but would retain its action roots.
"My 'Shaft' movie is going to be definitely not straight action. We're going action-comedy or comedy-action, I'm not exactly sure which one comes first. We're going to definitely make sure the stakes in the world are real, and then you've got these characters who are dealing with kind of a father/son situation, we're going to see them put a family back together," said the director.
Jackson's agreement to return to the film may be motivated by his rumored disappointment with the original "Shaft". The actor was said to have had some disagreements with the director and producers about the film's direction. Christian Bale, who played "Shaft" villain, was also disappointed with the final product because his character's final fight scene with Jackson's character was cut from the film.
New Line and Netflix are teaming for the new "Shaft" film. Netflix finances the international rights and will stream "Son of Shaft" outside the U.S. after New Line releases the film in domestic theaters. Director Story is best known for his Fox's comic book films, like "Fantastic Four" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer". Race comedy series "Black-ish" writers, Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow, have penned the screenplay.
The upcoming "Shaft" film is scheduled to go into production in December.
