"He thinks he's black James Bond."

Black James Bond aka John Shaft II is back in what must be the most popular African-American film franchise.

Now in the fifth installment, 'Shaft' started out in 1971 as a blaxploitation action-crime film, starring Richard Roundtree as the first John Shaft.

In 2000, for the fourth installment, Samuel L Jackson took over - as John Shaft II, the nephew of John Shaft. 

This time around, the mantle is being passed to Jessie Usher ('Independence Day: Resurgence', 'Creed II'), who will play John Shaft II's estranged son, John "JJ" Shaft Jr, in the new 'Shaft' movie.

As usual, Richard Roundtree, the original 'Shaft', will appear in the movie, making up what will surely be a rip-roaring three-generational trifecta of Shafts.

From the trailer, it seems that this new sequel of 'Shaft' promises to be a lot funnier than its predecessors. That's just perfect because no one can do comedy as Samuel L Jackson can. 

So what happens in this new 'Shaft' movie? John Shaft Jr., an MIT-graduated cybersecurity expert, asks his family for help to uncover the truth behind his best friend's death. From there on, things get messy really quickly.



What's interesting to note is also that Netflix has made an unprecedented distribution deal with New Line Cinema. Shaft will have a theatrical release in the US, but for the rest of the world, 'Shaft' will skip the cinemas and go straight to Netflix.