Spike Lee: The Times Did the Wrong Thing After Early Peek at ‘Sam’

Touchstone Pictures, “Summer of Sam” and I have been led astray, hoodwinked and bamboozled by the Los Angeles Times. Amy Wallace’s article “Will Spike’s ‘Summer’ Vision Remain Intact?” (April 2) was a breach of trust.

It is an established industry practice for journalists to refrain from reviewing a film until after its completion, unless it is stated otherwise. On March 25, [Times Staff Writers] Amy Wallace, Patrick Goldstein, Eric Harrison, [Calendar Photo Editor] Cindy Hively, [Deputy Sunday Calendar Editor] Kinsey Lowe and [Movie Editor] Rich Nordwind saw an early cut of the film. Touchstone Pictures and I agreed to show the film so it could be considered for the coveted cover of the Calendar section on the Sunday prior to the film’s release. The version they saw was a work-in-progress.

Never in my wildest imagination would I expect to read a review based on that screening, and four months before the scheduled release of the film. The L.A. Times, no matter how they position it, no matter how they spin it, printed a review of an unfinished film. I find it inexcusable that The Times would cite a detailed listing of “racy” scenes. Filmmakers will now be very leery of showing anything in advance to any writer for fear of being reviewed way before the event.

Furthermore, the article tried to imply that Touchstone doesn’t know how to market the film--clearly an untruth. The trailer and the one-sheet are finished. The push back from June 25 to July 30 was done to avoid the summer glut of movies. It had nothing to do with the material or content of the film. In their zeal to create controversy where there is none, by using unnamed sources to promote the idea that the studio is somehow backing away from support of “Summer of Sam,” the L.A. Times undermines our ability to finish the film in the best possible atmosphere.

As for “top dog” Michael Eisner, he has supported, and continues to support, the film fully. He even visited the set in Da Bronx during production.

In closing, we are still working on “Summer of Sam.” The film isn’t finished yet, and it certainly wasn’t finished when The Times staff members saw it. There is no division at all between myself, Joe Roth, Michael Eisner and Touchstone Pictures. Working with Touchstone on “He Got Game” and now on “Summer of Sam” has been my best studio experience to date, and I hope to continue making films there in the future.

We are all working hard to get the best film possible into theaters on July 30. Hopefully, other, more ethically inclined journalists will wait until the film is complete before weighing in with their reviews.

Writer-director Spike Lee’s credits include “He Got Game,” “Jungle Fever,” “Malcolm X” and “Do the Right Thing.”