According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spike Lee is going to write and direct an adaptation of Ron Wimberly’s graphic novel Prince Of Cats, which made our list of the best comics of the decade earlier this week. THR describes the story as an “‘80s-set hip-hop take on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet,” and it’s told from the perspective of Tybalt, “Juliet’s angry and duel-loving cousin.” That may seem odd, but it was the ‘80s, and everybody was obsessed with duels back then. Duran Duran and duels. Wimberly and writer Selwyn Seyfu Hinds will “work with” Lee on the script, which is presumably the polite way of saying that they will co-write it but he’s Spike Lee so he’s earned top billing no matter what.
Going deeper into the plot, THR says it follows Tybalt and the Capulets in “Da People’s Republic Of Brooklyn,” which is a wonderful land full of hip-hop culture (“DJing, emceeing, breakdancing, and graffiti”) and sword duels (“including katanas,” THR adds, because THR knows what’s up when it comes to cool swords). LaKeith Stanfield was attached to star at one point, back when Hinds was working on the script and Lee hadn’t gotten involved yet, but he’s apparently no longer involved. Now that we’re talking about katanas, though, maybe he could be convinced to come back. Katanas!