Shaft Reboot Will Not Be A Comedy

The reboot is giving comedy the Shaft.

At the end of July, It was reported that New Line Cinema was moving forward with a comedic reboot of the 1970s cult Blaxploitation film Shaft. The thought of turning Shaft into a comedy did not sit well with many, but the film's producer John Davis assures that his take on Shaft will be a drama first and foremost.

"It's a reinvention of the story so that it's both fresh and harkens back to what we love about that character," Davis told Collider while promoting his latest film The Man from U.N.C.L.E. "It's drama, but it's going to be drama with a lot of fun moments. A lot of lighter moments."

The world has drastically changed since Shaft debuted in the 70s, so the concern would be how does he fit into the world of today. "But that's just a great character," he said. "He's just the greatest badass. You start with an amazing character – a great badass with charisma. He's a lot like Phillip in [The Player], guys with a kind of violent past who are willing to stand up to stuff, who will go to unconventional means to do what's right."

Shaft is a decades-old property about a private detective named John Shaft. Played by Richard Roundtree in the original film, Shaft is hired to locate a missing girl in New York City's Harlem. The movie marked a major benchmark in the "blaxploitation" era of films, earning strong cult following. Shaft has already been rebooted once, back in 2000, with Samuel L. Jackson playing the original Shaft's nephew.

The script is currently being penned by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and The Goldbergs executive producer Alex Barnow.