Shaft (2019 film)

Shaft is a 2019 American action comedy film directed by Tim Story and written by Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie Usher, and Richard Roundtree. It is the fifth film in the Shaft film series and a sequel to the 2000 film with the same title. Unlike its predecessor, which was distributed by Paramount Pictures, this film will be produced by New Line Cinema and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, who owns the first three features and the TV series due to its acquisition of the pre-1986 MGM library when it absorbed Turner Entertainment through the Time Warner formation in 1996.

The film was released theatrically in the United States on June 14, 2019 by Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be released in international markets on June 28, 2019 by Netflix. The film has received mixed reviews from critics but received a positive response from audiences.

Plot
John "JJ" Shaft Jr. (Jessie Usher) is an FBI agent and a cybersecurity expert with a degree from MIT. After his best friend dies under suspicious circumstances, he turns to his estranged father—the legendary John Shaft II (Samuel L. Jackson)—to uncover the truth. Father and son must navigate the Harlem underworld to solve the crime. Along the way they team up with the first generation and JJ’s grandfather, John Shaft (Richard Roundtree).

Cast

 * Samuel L. Jackson as John Shaft Jr, a private investigator, father of JJ and Son of Shaft Sr.
 * Jessie Usher as John "JJ" Shaft III., an FBI Agent, son of Shaft Jr. and grandson of Shaft Sr.
 * Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, the legendary retired private investigator, father of Shaft Jr. and grandfather of JJ
 * Alexandra Shipp as Sasha Arias
 * Regina Hall as Maya Babanikos, Shaft II's ex-wife and JJ's mother
 * Matt Lauria as Major Gary Cutworth
 * Titus Welliver as Special Agent Vietti
 * Method Man as Freddie P
 * Isaach de Bankolé as Pierro 'Gordito' Carrera
 * Avan Jogia as Karim Hassan
 * Robbie Jones as Sergeant Keith Williams
 * Lauren Vélez as Bennie Rodriguez

Production
On February 18, 2015, it was announced that New Line Cinema had acquired the rights to Shaft, based on the famous police character, John Shaft, and would develop a new film within the series along with producer John Davis of Davis Entertainment. On July 28, 2015, it was reported that Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow would be writing the script for the new film, which would also be produced by Ira Napoliello. On January 20, 2017, the studio hired Tim Story to direct the film. On August 18, 2017, Jessie Usher was cast to play the lead role as the son of Samuel L. Jackson's John Shaft II from the 2000 film, while Richard Roundtree and Jackson would reprise their roles from the previous films.

In October 2017, Netflix signed a deal with New Line Cinema to cover more than half of the film's $30 million budget in exchange for the rights, which allowed Netflix to release the film on its platform outside of the United States two weeks after the theatrical release in the U.S.

Filming began in February 2018. It was reported that the film already wrapped up production in the early part of the year but the cast went back to re-shoot some scenes in Atlanta in August 2018.

Release
Shaft was theatrically released on June 14, 2019 in the United States, by Warner Bros. Netflix, who paid $6–7 million for the rights to the film, will release it internationally on June 28, 2019.

Box office
In the United States and Canada, Shaft was released alongside Men in Black: International, as well as the wide expansion of Late Night, and was initially projected to gross $17–20 million from 2,950 theaters in its opening weekend. However after film made just $2.7 million on its first day ($600,000 from Thursday night previews), estimates were lowered to $7 million. It went on to debut to just $8.3 million, finishing sixth at the box office.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 35% based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 4.77/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Decades removed from the original, this multi-generational Shaft struggles to keep its characters interesting -- or anything other than uncomfortably outdated." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave the film an average 4 out of 5 stars and a 51% "definite recommend".

Writing for The A. V. Club, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky gave the film a C, writing, "With its groaner jokes and TV-pilot production values, the new film makes the last attempt at updating the character to contemporary action-hero tastes (in 2000's Shaft, directed by the late John Singleton) look downright old-school. And its identity crises go a lot deeper than the title it confusingly shares with two earlier films."