Malcolm X

Marvin Worth bought the rights in 1967, commissioned James Baldwin in 1968 and paired him with the blacklisted writer Arnold Perl. After Spike Lee rewrote the script the Baldwin family removed his name, leaving Perl and Lee credited. The completion bond company took financial control in January 1992, stopped approving spending and capped the picture at 135 minutes. Lee put 2 million dollars of his own 3 million dollar fee in; donors including Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Janet Jackson and Prince stepped in. He called it a gift, not a loan, so the released version would be his. A second unit shot the Mecca passage, since non Muslims cannot enter the city. Mandela closes the film teaching a Soweto classroom but refused to say the last phrase on camera, fearing the apartheid government would use it against him; footage of Malcolm X delivers it instead. At the 65th Academy Awards it drew 2 nominations, Denzel Washington for lead actor and Ruth E. Carter for costume design, winning neither. Washington won the Silver Bear at the 43rd Berlin festival for the role. A good fit if you treat how a film got paid for as part of the film. Not for anyone who reads the turn to archive footage at the close as a break.