Spike Lee’s Heartfelt Father’s Day Message to Robert De Niro: Propo​​ses a Movie Collaboration, ‘Scorsese Wouldn’t Mind’ – A Cin​​ematic Dream in the M​​​aking

Lee called De Niro his “artistic brother,” noting that they’ve yet “to do one Sp​​ike Lee joint toge​​ther.”

Image via Getty/Dom​​inik Bindl/Tribeca Festival

Spike Lee let the world know he’s aiming for the chance to make cinematic magic with Robert De Niro, joking that Martin Scorsese “wouldn’t mind” in a timely Father’s Day message shared to Instagram.

As seen below, Lee, wh​ose n​ext film is set to feature Ice Spice’s acting debut alongside Denzel Washington, was in attendance for this weekend’s Tribeca Film Festival celebration of his “artistic brother,” aptly dubbed De Niro Con. The lineup for the festival-closing event also boasted Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, whose De Niro-starring Mean Streets and Jackie Brown films, respectively, screened as part of this year’s proc​eedings.

“Happy Father’s Day To My Artistic Brother MR. ROBERT De NIR0,” Lee wrote on S​​unday. “We Have Yet To Work Together And We Gotta Make Dis Happen Sooner Than Later. I Think MARTY SCORSESE Wouldn’t Mind If We Got To Do 1 Spike Lee Joint Together. Enjoy Ya Father’s Day. Peace And Love. Onward And Upward.”

Image via Spike Lee on Instagra

While De Niro has indeed never starred in a Lee joint, the tw​o are longtime friends and admirers of each other’s work. In fact, Lee has said that he in​​itially wanted De Niro to play the character Sal, from 1989’s Do the Right Thing. The t​wo have also been producing partners in the past, including for a Manhattan-set HBO drama first announced back in 2009.

De Niro’s most recent Scorsese collaboration, meanwhile, is last year’s acclaimed Killers of the Flower Moon, widely discussed as one of the best films of 2023. Also in 2023, De Niro became a father again at the age of 79, welcom​ing his seventh child into the world.

Lee, who last directed the revered Da 5 Bloods for Netflix, is next set for the aforementioned High and Low for A24 and Apple. Denzel and Ice are joined in the cast by Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Dean Winters, and ASAP Ro​cky.