BlacKkKlansman (2018)
90%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
45 wins & 214 nominations total
BlacKkKlansman uses history to offer bitingly trenchant commentary on current events — and brings out some of Spike Lee’s hardest-hitting work in decades along the way.
BlacKkKlansman is the perfect mix of humor and seriousness, making it a must-watch for anyone who wants to learn about the history of racism in America while also being entertained. Spike Lee’s direction is on point, and the performances from John David Washington and Adam Driver are outstanding. Plus, who knew that infiltrating the KKK could be so funny? Overall, BlacKkKlansman is a powerful and enjoyable film that will leave you thinking long after the credits roll.
Production Company(ies)
New Line Cinema, Wing Nut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company,
Distributor
Focus Features
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Ossining, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language throughout, including racial epithets, and for disturbing/violent material and some sexual references
Year of Release
2018
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 14m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 10, 2018 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 6, 2018
Genre(s)
Crime/Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Jasper Pääkkönen, Corey Hawkins, directed by Spike Lee, written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee, Crime, Comedy, Drama, $48.6M box office, R MPAA rating, reviewed by tt stern-enzi, Lawrence Ware, Jake Wilson, Chris Stuckmann, Oliver Jones, Emily St James, Brian Eggert, Cory Woodroof, Taylor Baker, Milana Vujkov, Robin Holabird, Sophie Charara, African-American detective, Colorado Springs Police Department, Ku Klux Klan, undercover investigation, racial epithets, Dolby Atmos, Focus Features, 2h 14m runtime
Worldwide gross: $93,413,709
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $109,926,801
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 970
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 11,987,656
US/Canada gross: $49,275,340
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $57,985,927
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,013
US/Canada opening weekend: $10,845,330
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $12,762,500
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 873
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $15,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $17,651,606
Production budget ranking: 1,431
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,505,390
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $82,769,805
ROI to date (est.): 305%
ROI ranking: 455
Adam Driver – Flip Zimmerman
Laura Harrier – Patrice Dumas
Topher Grace – David Duke
Jasper Pääkkönen – Felix Kendrickson
Corey Hawkins – Kwame Ture
Director – Spike Lee
Producers – Sean McKittrick, Raymond Mansfield, Jason Blum, Jordan Peele, Spike Lee, Shaun Redick
Writers – Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
Director(s)
Spike Lee
Writer(s)
Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
Producer(s)
Sean McKittrick, Raymond Mansfield, Jason Blum, Jordan Peele, Spike Lee, Shaun Redick
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
45 wins & 214 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (449) | Top Critics (91) | Fresh (429) | Rotten (20)
The contemporary elements don’t necessarily trip you up too much, because you’re in the middle of a period piece, and its a great balance that he strikes because we have been waiting for a return of Spike.
March 21, 2019
tt stern-enzi
WXIX-TV (Cincinnati, OH)
TOP CRITIC
The filmmaker rips from the headlines, but the struggles remain the same.
January 9, 2019
Lawrence Ware
Slate
TOP CRITIC
There’s nobody left in Hollywood making broad, sweeping, lively political melodramas like Spike Lee.
September 14, 2018
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
It’s just about perfect in balance of tone, and it’s easily Spike Lee’s best film in years.
August 31, 2018 | Rating: A
Chris Stuckmann
ChrisStuckmann.com
TOP CRITIC
A kitchen sink and kaleidoscopic study of cultural and institutional racism in America.
August 29, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Oliver Jones
Observer
TOP CRITIC
What I especially love is how the movie refuses to offer up any pat or easy answers.
August 27, 2018
Emily St. James
Vox
TOP CRITIC
Lee’s most purely entertaining film since Inside Man in 2006, BlacKkKlansman has a timeliness that taps into an imperative national conversation.
March 11, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Spike Lee will always be one of America’s foremost filmmakers; an explosive auteur with a jarring left hook who sizes up society and social issues with Billy Wilder’s wit and Old Testament fury.
February 11, 2022
Cory Woodroof
Williamson Home Page
Perhaps Spike’s broadest and most well layered joint.
August 27, 2021 | Rating: 80/100
Taylor Baker
Drink in the Movies
If it had been more artistically rigorous with the slapstick, it could have arrived at Arendt’s ‘banality of evil’, and taken that point home with guns blazing.
July 30, 2021 | Rating: 2/5
Milana Vujkov
Lola On Film
Blackkklansman helps Spike Lee finally land in the Best Director field where he deserved a place years ago.
July 22, 2021
Robin Holabird
KUNR (Reno, NV)
Spike Lee has much more than a roomful of people for his audience and this is his fiery speech.
April 28, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Sophie Charara
NME…
Plot
In the early 1970s, Ron Stallworth is hired as the first black officer in the Colorado Springs, Colorado police department. Stallworth is initially assigned to work in the records room, where he faces racial slurs from his coworkers. Stallworth requests a transfer to go undercover, and is assigned to infiltrate a local rally at which national civil rights leader Kwame Ture (birth name Stokely Carmichael) is to give a speech. At the rally, Stallworth meets Patrice Dumas, the president of the black student union at Colorado College. While taking Ture to his hotel, Patrice is stopped by patrolman Andy Landers, a corrupt, racist officer in Stallworth’s precinct, who threatens Ture and sexually assaults Patrice..
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Topher Grace plays David Duke in the film.
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