Teyonah Parris

The trailer for Spike Lee's emotionally charged new drama 'Chi-Raq' is here, and while it's based on an ancient war comedy, he takes a far more serious look at the war raging on the streets of Chicago in regards to gang violence and the city's ever growing death toll.

Teyonah Parris brings the girl power in 'Chi-Raq'

The premise of the movie, as mentioned in the new trailer, is that homicides in Chicago have easily exceeded those of American Special Forces in Iraq (hence the title). It's a shocking statement that turns a would-be comedy into something far graver. It's based on the 411 BCE Greek play 'Lysistrata' by Aristophanes, which is set during the Peloponnesian War. The main idea is that the title character, a woman of independence and remarkable strength for that time, rallies together a group of women in a bid to end the war her own way; by persuading these ladies to sign an oath eschewing all sexual activity with their husbands until they agree to put down their weapons.

Continue reading: Spike Lee Explores Chicago's Gang Warfare In Intense Drama 'Chi-Raq' [Trailer + Pictures]

Amazon Studios has announced plans for its first movie release, teaming up with award-winning director Spike Lee for his forthcoming joint Chi-Raq.

The media giant confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that Lee’s next major movie will be the first original movie content for the studio, which is looking to expand from streaming into the territory that Netflix has started to occupy. The e-commerce giant announced at the start of 2015 that it was planning to make 12 movies a year.

Amazon unveiled the news on its so-called ‘Amazon Prime Day’, Wednesday July 15th, also the 20th anniversary of the compay. “Chi-Raq will shed light on the serious, but often overlooked issue of violence in inner city Chicago,” a statement by the studio said.

Continue reading: Amazon Studios Announces Spike Lee's 'Chi-Raq' As First Original Movie Content

The season 7 premiere of Mad Men was attended by the whole cast as they celebrated the final series of the long running drama.

Jon Hamm at the season 7 premiere of Mad Men.

The period drama which focusses on a New York advertising agency and executive Don Draper (Jon Hamm) has aired since 2007 but the network behind the hit show, AMC, announced last year the seventh series would be the last. 

Continue reading: Mad Men Season 7 Premiere - Alison Brie, Jessica Pare, Christina Hendricks [Pictures]