Spike Lee reveals script for unmade Jackie Robinson movie starring Denzel Washington

"This is a great American story."

Spike Lee has shared the script for an unmade Jackie Robinson biopic that would have starred Denzel Washington as the trailblazing baseball player.

The director dropped the 1996 screenplay for fans online amid self-isolation over the coronavirus pandemic, explaining he had a lot of time to think over previous projects while at home.

Appearing in an Instagram video, Lee said: “Hello everyone, hope you are safe at home. We’ve all had a lot of time to think about stuff, life, what happened, what didn’t happen. And I began to think about one of my dream projects.

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“I wrote a script for Jackie Robinson. Denzel [Washington] said he was too old [to play Robinson]. I pulled this script out of the vault, and so I wanted to share this script with you.

“Don’t worry if you don’t like baseball or sports,” the filmmaker continued. “This is a great American story. It never got made, but I want to share it with you. Hope you enjoy it, if you don’t that’s alright too. It’s never getting made. Be safe! Be safe! Social distancing! Peace.”

He added in his comments: “Good Sunday Afternoon From Da Corona Epicenter Of The USA-NYC.

Denzel Washington. Credit: Getty/Edward Berthelot

“I Dug Deep Into Da 40 Acres Vault And Pulled Out This Script From One Of My EPIC Dream (Never Got Made) Projects-JACKIE ROBINSON. You Do Not Have To Be A Baseball Fan To Enjoy. This Script Is A Great American Story. Be Safe. Peace,Light And Love. And Dat’s Da ‘Brooklyn Dodger’Truth, Ruth. YA-DIG? SHO-NUFF.”

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You can read Lee’s full 1996 screenplay right here.

Meanwhile, Lee was due to head the 2020 Cannes Film Festival jury, becoming the first black artist to do so, though the festival was recently postponed due to coronavirus.

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