Brooklyn Burning

“If people think ‘Mississippi Burning’ is a true story of racism,” Spike Lee told us from his editing rooms in Brooklyn, “they should wait to see ‘Do the Right Thing.’ ”

The writer-director-star was talking about his latest film, now being “fine-tuned” for a possible summer release by Universal. It deals with “how the hottest day in New York City (in the summer of 1989) affects already tense racial relations.” Lee plays a delivery boy in a Brooklyn pizza parlor operated by a combative Italian (Danny Aiello).

Although Lee promised that “Do” will be “very topical,” he added: “I want to reiterate and emphasize that this is not the Howard Beach story, because it bears reiterating” to correct recent media reports, which he said were inaccurate.

Lee said there has been no pressure from the studio to tone down sensitive racial material. Executives have “offered suggestions, but they’re not trying to ram anything down my throat,” he said. “I’ve had a great relationship with Universal.”