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Shaft (franchise)

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Shaft
Created byErnest Tidyman
Original workShaft (1970)
Years1970–present
Print publications
Novel(s)Shaft (1970)
Films and television
Film(s)
Television seriesShaft (1973–74)

The Shaft franchise[1] consists of five action-crime feature films and seven television films, centered on a family of African-American police detectives who all share the name John Shaft. The first three features may be described as blaxploitation films, the television film series is a mystery, and the fourth feature installment is a crime thriller. By contrast the fifth film installment, released to Netflix, is a satirical buddy-cop comedy.[2]

Film

[edit]
Film U.S. release date Director(s) Story by Screenwriter(s) Producer(s)
Shaft July 2, 1971 Gordon Parks Ernest Tidyman
and John D. F. Black
Joel Freeman
Shaft's Big Score! June 8, 1972 Ernest Tidyman Ernest Tidyman and Roger Lewis
Shaft in Africa June 14, 1973 John Guillermin Stirling Silliphant Roger Lewis
Shaft June 16, 2000 John Singleton John Singleton & Shane Salerno John Singleton & Shane Salerno
and Richard Price
John Singleton and Scott Rudin
Shaft June 14, 2019 Tim Story Kenya Barris & Alex Barnow Kenya Barris and John Davis

Shaft (1971)

[edit]

John Shaft is a classy and suave African-American detective. He successfully fights local crime, including the leader of the black crime mob named Bumpy, his gang, and black nationals. The conflicting characters have to put aside their differences when they must defeat the white mafia, who kidnapped Bumpy's daughter in attempts to blackmail him.

Shaft's Big Score! (1972)

[edit]

When John Shaft finds out that a dead friend ran an illegal money laundering scheme out of the former's legitimate business and left $200,000 unaccounted for, he discovers the reason why he had suddenly found himself in the middle of a war between rival gangs. The thugs begin a war of taking over the territory that belonged to the deceased, as well as to get their hands on the missing two hundred grand. Shaft has all he can handle trying to track down the money and, at the same time, keep his friend's sister from the clutches of these dangerous groups.

Shaft in Africa (1973)

[edit]

John Shaft is persuaded to take on the faux identity of a native-speaking worker in Africa by threats of violence, the enticings of money, and the lure of a potential love interest in his tutor. While undercover he must help in completing a coup on a business that is smuggling immigrants into Europe, and then exploiting them. The villains, unfortunately for him, know he is coming.

Shaft (2000)

[edit]

New York City Police Detective John Shaft II, son of the 1970s cop,[a] is the lead detective on a sensitive case when a young African-American is viciously beaten to death. After learning there was an eye-witness and upon further investigation, the man's friends lead Shaft on the trail of a man who was known to have racial prejudice, prior to the attack. The titular character confronts him and learns that he's Walter Wade Jr., the son of a wealthy real estate tycoon. He finds evidence that the perpetrator was at the location of the crime. The suspect is released on bail because of 'excessive force' from Shaft during his arrest, and flees the country. Two years later, Wade returns to the U.S. where Shaft arrests him for evading law enforcement. After the judge grants him bail, Shaft questions the magistrate's motives and intentions. He resigns from the police force and sets out to lock Wade away permanently. At the same time Wade fears that Shaft may find the witness before he does and hires a drug lord to find and kill her.

Shaft (2019)

[edit]

John Shaft III, also known as JJ, is a cyber security expert for the FBI who seeks out a different kind of expertise from his absentee father John Shaft II (and ultimately, grandfather John Shaft I) after his best friend's untimely death.

In discussing the film, director Tim Story stated, "...We’re going to definitely make sure the stakes in the world are real, and then you’ve got these characters who are dealing with kind of a father/son situation, we’re going to see them put a family back together."[3]

Television

[edit]
Series Season Episodes First released Last released Executive producers Network
Shaft 1 7 October 9, 1973 February 19, 1974 Allan Balter & William Read Woodfield CBS

Following the box office failure of Shaft in Africa, the studio moved the franchise to the small screen in 1973, with a television series ordered and released to CBS network. While attempting to build crossovers with another crime-drama, Hawkins, the series never garnered much success. Each episode features a different case and a different crime for the titular character to solve. The series was cancelled after one season, due to poor ratings. Richard Roundtree, who reprised his role from the theatrical feature films, has since expressed his distaste for the show and its contrasting message of "pro-police" compared to the feature films.[4] Some episodes were later re-edited and released as television movies, including: Shaft and the Enforcers, Shaft and the Killing, Shaft and the Hit-Run, Shaft and the Kidnapping, Shaft and the Cop Killer, Shaft and the Capricorn Murders, and Shaft and the Murder Machine. The first four debuted in 1973, while the latter three released in 1974.[4]

Main cast and characters

[edit]

The film series contains four main stars, with various key characters appearing in each individual movie. The following chart organizes the films' stars, arranged by film.

Character Films Television
Shaft
(1971)
Shaft's Big Score! Shaft in Africa Shaft
(2000)
Shaft
(2019)
Shaft
(1973–1974)
John Shaft Richard Roundtree
John Shaft II Samuel L. Jackson
John "JJ" Shaft III Jessie T. Usher
Jordan Preston CarterY
Bumpy Jonas Moses Gunn
Lt. Al Rossi Angelo Gnazzo Ed Barth
The Detective Rudy Doucette
The Hood Arnold Roberts
Laura Parks Judie Stein
The Pit Boss Nick Borgani
The Sportsman Robert Strong
Lt. Vic Androzzi Charles Cioffi
Ben Buford Christopher St. John
Marcy Jonas Sherri Brewer
Cal Asby Robert Kya-Hill
Gus Mascola Joseph Mascolo
Rita Kathy Imrie
Johnny Kelly Wally Taylor
Cpt. Bollin Julius Harris
Arna Asby Rosalind Miles
Emir Ramila Cy Grant
A.V. Ramila Avelio Falana
Col. Gondor Marne Maitland
Son of the Ramilas A.V. Falana
Peoples Hernandez Jeffrey Wright
Det. Carmen Vasquez Vanessa Williams
Rasaan Trevor "Busta Rhymes"
Smith, Jr.
Diane Palmieri Toni Collette
Walter Wade, Jr. Christian Bale
Det. Jack Roselli Dan Hedaya
Det. Jimmy Groves Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Carla Howard Lynne Thigpen
Walter Wade, Sr. Philip Bosco
Det. Luger Lee Tergesen
Lt. Kearney Daniel von Bargen
Lucifer Hernandez Francisco "Coqui" Taveras
Sasha Arias Alexandra Shipp
Nyah Marie JohnsonY
Maya Babanikos Regina Hall
Maj. Gary Cutworth Matt Lauria
S.A. Vietti Titus Welliver
Freddie P. Cliff "Method Man" Smith
Pierro "Gordito" Carrera Isaach de Bankolé
Karim Hassan Avan Jogia
Joey MekytenY
Bennie Rodriguez Luna Lauren Vélez
Dominguez Rodriguez Aaron Dominguez

Additional crew and production details

[edit]
Title Composer(s) Cinematographer(s) Editor(s) Production
companies
Distributing
company
Running
time
Shaft
(1971)
Isaac Hayes & Johnny Allen Urs Furrer Hugh A. Robertson Shaft Productions,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 100 minutes
Shaft's Big Score! Gordon Parks Harry Howard 104 minutes
Shaft in Africa Johnny Pate Marcel Grignon Max Benedict Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Shaft Productions, Ltd.
112 minutes
Shaft
(The Series)
Michael Hugo & Keith C. Smith Peter Kirby & George Folsey, Jr. MGM Television CBS Network approx. 73 minutes each
Shaft
(2000)
David Arnold Donald E. Thorin John Bloom & Antonia Van Drimmelen Shaft Productions,
Paramount Pictures,
New Deal Productions,
Scott Rudin Productions,
Munich Film Partners & Company
Paramount Pictures 99 minutes
Shaft
(2019)
Christopher Lennertz Larry Blanford Conrad Buff IV New Line Cinema,
Khalab Ink Society,
Davis Entertainment,
Netflix Original Films,
Warner Bros. Pictures,
Warner Bros. Digital Networks
Warner Bros. Pictures 111 minutes

Reception

[edit]

Box office performance

[edit]
Film Release date Box office gross Box office ranking Budget Ref.
North America Other territories Worldwide All time
North America
All time
worldwide
Shaft (1971) July 2, 1971 $12,121,618 $12,121,618 #4,476 #5,704 $500,000[citation needed] [5]
Shaft's Big Score! June 8, 1972 $10,000,000 $10,000,000 #4,875 #6,204 $1,978,000 [6]
Shaft in Africa June 14, 1973 $1,455,635 $1,079,615 $2,440,240[b] $2,142,000 [8][7]
Shaft (2000) June 16, 2000 $70,327,868 $36,862,240 $107,190,108 #1,086 #1,377 $53,012,938 [9]
Shaft (2019) June 14, 2019 $21,360,215 $21,360,215 TBA TBA $30,000,000 [10]

Critical and public response

[edit]
Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore[11][better source needed]
Shaft (1971) 88% (40 reviews)[12] 66 (10 reviews)[13]
Shaft's Big Score! 68% (11 reviews)[14]
Shaft in Africa 56% (9 reviews)[15]
Shaft (2000) 67% (115 reviews)[16] 50 (33 reviews)[17] A-
Shaft (2019) 31% (99 reviews)[18] 40 (30 reviews)[19] A

See also

[edit]

A future descendant of John Shaft appears in the Cowboy Bebop episode "Mushroom Samba", voiced by Hōchū Ōtsuka in the 1999 Japanese version and by Beau Billingslea in the 2001 English dub. According to writer/director Quentin Tarantino, the characters Broomhilda "Hildi" von Schaft and her husband Django Freeman in his 2012 film Django Unchained were written as the progenitors to the Shaft family line and direct ancestors of John Shaft. Tarantino stated that while the film isn't an official prequel to the series, his intention was that the characters have familial ties.[20]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Aldous, Steve (2015). The World of Shaft: A Complete Guide to the Novels, Comic Strip, Films and Television Series. McFarland. ISBN 9781476622231.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The 2019 sequel retcons him into being Shaft II's biological father, the film mentioning that Shaft I had spent years pretending to be his uncle.
  2. ^ Because there are no box office numbers available for Shaft in Africa, these figures are calculated off of home video rental sales.[7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hunter, Rob (June 19, 2019). "Shut Your Mouth: Exploring The 48-Year History of the 'Shaft' Franchise". Slash Film. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Hall, Jacob (August 18, 2017). "Jessie T. Usher is the 'Son of Shaft,' Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree Also Returning". /Film. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  3. ^ Romano, Nick (February 2, 2018). "Shaft actors past and present assemble in photo from set of reboot". Entertainment Weekly. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Mooney, Joshua (August 15, 1997). "Scowling `Shaft' In His Past, Roundtree's Even Taking On Comedy". Philly.com. Philadelphia Media Network. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  5. ^ "Shaft (1971) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  6. ^ "Shaft's Big Score (1972) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Aldous, Steve. "Shaft in Africa (1973)". Steve Aldous official website.
  8. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1973", Variety, January 9, 1974, p. 60.
  9. ^ "Shaft (2000) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  10. ^ "Shaft (2019) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Production Budget: $30,000,000
  11. ^ "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  12. ^ "Shaft (1971)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  13. ^ "Shaft (1971) Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  14. ^ "Shaft's Big Score! (1972)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  15. ^ "Shaft in Africa (1973)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  16. ^ "Shaft (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  17. ^ "Shaft Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  18. ^ "Shaft (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  19. ^ "Shaft (2019)". Metacritic.
  20. ^ The Deadline Team (July 14, 2012). "'Django Unchained' A 'Shaft' Prequel? So Says Quentin Tarantino: Comic-Con". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 15, 2018.