Spike Lee Not Shopping Colin Kaepernick Doc

Last week Spike Lee confirmed that the Colin Kaepernick documentary that he directed would not being coming out on ESPN [click here if you missed that].

The project is also NOT being shopped around to other networks...

From Awful Announcing

Subsequent reports indicated that the project could potentially be shopped elsewhere. On Tuesday, Lee asserted that it won’t be the case.

In an interview with Business Insider, Lee said he had no plans to sell the project to another company.

“No, it’s unfortunate, but I mean, I’ve moved on,” he said.

Back in 2020, Kaepernick reached a deal with Disney that gave the company rights to adapt his story into a docuseries. In 2022, Lee was brought on as director. As part of Kaepernick’s original deal with Disney, the former quarterback was granted “approval rights” that essentially amounted to control over the project’s final cut.

Lee, true to form, sought to create an expansive documentary touching on cultural issues far beyond Kaepernick himself. In his vision, Kaepernick’s story would be used as a vehicle for a much wider societal commentary. However, Kaepernick’s team wanted the project to remain focused primarily on him, one person familiar told Awful Announcing.

Puck’s Matt Belloni reported a similar tie-up last September. “Kaepernick, who is a producer on the project and maintains approval rights, is said to have wanted the film to be more limited to his experience,” Belloni wrote. “He also asked that certain things be added after Lee finished his final cut. Kaepernick and his longtime partner are apparently hyper-meticulous about how he is portrayed in the media.”