Spike Lee’s docuseries about former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was supposed to be a prestige film for ESPN.
But last week, Reuters reported that the docuseries was being canned after the legendary filmmaker told the outlet, “It’s not coming out. That’s all I can say,” citing a non-disclosure agreement he had signed related to the project. The next day, ESPN confirmed it would not air the multi-part documentary, citing “creative differences.”
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.”
With Kaepernick ultimately wielding creative control over the film, the project reached a stalemate.
Such a creative impasse would make it difficult to sell the documentary to another company anyway. If Lee and Kaepernick cannot agree on what makes the final cut, any prospective buyer would essentially be purchasing a film that has no potential of ever being released.
And so, unless the Kaepernick team has a significant change of heart, Lee’s vision will likely never see the light of day.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.