Home / Entertainment / Spike Lee’s ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ Receives an Official Premiere Date

Spike Lee’s ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ Receives an Official Premiere Date

By on June 28, 2017

Good news! Nearly a year after the infamous Spike Lee joint She’s Gotta Have It was announced to be coming to Netflix in a series, episodic format – the series has a premiere date. Thanks to the BET Awards this past Sunday (June 25), viewers were given insight of when to expect the anticipated reimagining of the popular film turned TV series adaptation. The show will see its debut this Thanksgiving.

The She’s Gotta Have It series is a bit of a departure from what Spike Lee ordinarily ties his name to. Spike Lee is known for directing films (affectionately called “Spike Lee joints”) and documentaries. Jumping into the small screen will be new territory for the visionary.

She’s Gotta Have It was his big screen debut many years ago and grossed $7 million without any major studio backing. In fact, the film was backed by Lee’s own production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks. The feature-length project opened to rave reviews and thereby launched Lee’s career. So, the fact that he chose this film to spawn a TV series for Netflix means there’s some good juju there somewhere.

Apparently, the major credit behind She’s Gotta Have It becoming a Netflix gem all belongs to the 60-year-old director’s wife, Tonya Lewis Lee. “It was my wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, producer in her own right, who had the vision to take my film from the big screen and turn it into an episodic series. It had not occurred to me at all. Tonya saw it plain as day. I didn’t.”

In his signature punctuation style, Lee had this to say about the excitement of the classic film being given television treatment:

SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT Has A Very Special Place In My Heart. We Shot This Film In 12 Days (2 Six Day Weeks) Way Back In The Back Back Of The Hot Summer Of 1985 For A Mere Total of $175,000. Funds That We Begged, Borrowed and Whatnot To Get That Money. This Is The 1st Official Spike Lee Feature Film Joint And Everything That We Have Been Blessed With In This Tough Business Of Film All Have Been Due To SGHI.

Now With The Passing (August 8th) Of The 30th Anniversary, It’s A Gift That Keeps On Giving. We Are Getting An Opportunity To Revisit These Memorable Characters Who Will Still Be Relevant And Avant Garde 3 Decades Later. With All That Said It Was My Wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, Producer In Her Own Right, Who Had The Vision To Take My Film From The Big Screen And Turn It Into An Episodic Series. It Had Not Occurred To Me At All. Tonya Saw It Plain As Day. I Didn’t.

We Are Hyped That NETFLIX Is Onboard With This Vision As Nola Darling, Mars Blackmon, Jamie Overstreet And Greer Childs DO DA DAMN THANG Now, Today In Da Republic Of Brooklyn, New York.

Catch the full 10 episodes of this must-see series on Netflix, starting November 23, 2017.

A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on


Photo Credit: PR PHOTOS

Sheriden Chanel is a twenty-something writer, Beyoncé enthusiast, and lover of all things visual art. Keep up with her and her musings on social via @indiebyline.
Related Items