Spike Lee’s ‘Do The Right Thing’ Returning To Theaters For 30th Anniversary With 4K Restoration Via Universal

EXCLUSIVE: Three decades later, the block is still standing. Universal Pictures is marking the 30th anniversary of Spike Lee’s incendiary and still-topical Do the Right Thing with a remastered 4K restoration that will hit theaters June 28.

In partnership with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and the Criterion Collection, the re-release will include one-week engagements as well as single-day showtimes June 30 at select AMC, Regal Cinemas, Cinemark, and Alamo Drafthouse theaters. There also will be 35mm screenings at select theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin and Brookline, MA.

“When Spike Lee’s revolutionary Do the Right Thing was released by Universal Pictures 30 years ago this June, it ignited a national conversation on race and race relations in America that challenged our assumptions about ourselves and our country and heralded the arrival of a generation-defining filmmaker,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution.

Set during one sweltering summer day on a block of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the film follows the initially casual interactions among Mookie (Lee), Sal (Danny Aiello), Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), Mother Sister (Ruby Dee), Mister Señor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson), Tina (Rosie Perez), Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) and Pino (John Turturro). But tensions rise along racial fault lines as locals demand a black person’s photo be added to the Italians-only Wall of Fame at Sal’s Pizzeria, and heated, profane confrontations ultimately explode into violence.

Lee earned an Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for the film, and Aiello earned a Supporting Actor nom.

“In the decades since [Do the Right Thing], Universal has released six of Lee’s most unforgettable films including Crooklyn, Mo Better Blues, Jungle Fever and Inside Man,” Orr said. “And last year, NBCUniversal’s Focus Features released Lee’s acclaimed BlacKkKlansman, which earned Lee his long-overdue first Academy Award. Universal is honored by Lee’s enduring relationship with the studio, and we are thrilled to re-release his masterwork Do the Right Thing with this extraordinary new restoration.”

On July 23, the Criterion Collection also will celebrate the 30th anniversary with a Blu-ray/DVD release of a director-approved definitive edition featuring the new 4K restoration.