Spike Lee Will Direct World War II Drama Set in Italy

Back when Clint Eastwood debuted his two Iwo Jima-set films (Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima), there was some controversy surrounding the fact that no African American soldiers were featured, even though plenty were there fighting alongside their fellow countrymen. It now appears this was part of the reason why Spike Lee has decided to direct his own World War II drama which, according to Variety, will be based on Walter McBride's novel Miracle at St. Anna. Lee, who announced the project while in Italy, informed a newspaper there that he had "met a black veteran who fought at Iwo Jima, and he told me how disappointed he was that there was not even one Afro-American (soldier) in Clint Eastwood's two films."

Thus, as part of a joint project with Italian producers Luigi Musini and Roberto Cicutto, Lee will bring the true story of the U.S. army's 92nd division of all-black soldiers to the big screen; a film that will certainly prove to be his most ambitious to date. McBride, who will also write the screenplay, details how in 1944 the division became trapped in a Tuscan village and were forced to not only deal with their idiotic racist commanders, but also a whole slew of Nazis out for blood. Currently, no actors have signed on to star, but Musini told Variety that the "big-budget project will feature a mostly American cast." No word yet on when the film will go into production; aside from this flick, Lee has a number of other gigs lined up -- including a sequel to Inside Man, a James Brown biopic and a film about the L.A. riots.