Same gang to return for Inside Man 2

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a sequel to Spike Lee’s Inside Man has been green-lit at Universal, with Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, The Boxer) in negotiations to write the screenplay and Lee returning to the director’s chair.

The project is tentatively titled Inside Man 2, and picks up on the characters from a different storyline from the original. The first film, written by Russell Gewirtz, followed the tense moments of a standoff between a bank robber (played by Clive Owen) and a hostage negotiator (Denzel Washington) at a New York City bank.

The first Inside Man marked Spike Lee’s biggest opening weekend ever, and went on to earn more than $175 million worldwide in 2006. Denzel Washington and Clive Owen have showed interested in the project, according to a statement by Lee.

Spike Lee’s current project is the World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna, which hits theaters on September 26, 2008. He is also prepping a documentary on basketball great Michael Jordan.

Denzel Washington’s latest project has him playing another police officer in New York City, in the summer 2009 movie The Taking of Pelham 123. He’ll play Lieutenant Zachary Garber, the role originally portrayed by Walter Matthau in the 1974 Joseph Sargent-directed crime thriller. Pelham 123 will be in theaters in July of 09. Washington also appeared in the documentary Hollywood on Fire, which detailed the rise of faith and values in the entertainment industry. I also wrote a report on his next sci-fi project, Book of Eli RIGHT HERE.

Below is the trailer for the original Inside Man.