joining us this morning is the writing and director malcolm d. lee and monika calhoun who played mia in fact in the original. reviews coming out say this, the original cast, is just wonderful, that it's a great movie, and malcolm, monika, thank you very much. we had a director's peek showing us what happens when you deal with a large ensemble cast. monika was always the good girl. >> always. >> teacher's pet. >> very true character in the film as well. >> this was 1999. were you thinking sequel back then or step away and decided 2011. >> yes, 2011 that's the year. no. here's the thing. "the best man" was my first movie and i said -- there was talk of a sequel then and i just didn't want to do that. i wanted to explore the story. i wanted to grow as a director and grow as a story teller. i said if i ever was going to revisit these characters it would be ten years later once they had a chance to live some

." >>> director malcolm d. lee, the "the best man holiday" is releas released. also, "the book thieves." >> what do we make of all of this? there is no better person to ask than kevin mccarthy joins us from los angeles. kevin, good morning. >> good morning. good morning to you guys. by the way, i want to say you rock at life this morning. you guys are awesome. >> so what do you make of the book sea. >> it opened up in new york and l.a. it was a platform release. comes out in d.c., chicago, philly, new york this weekend be. one of the things i'm fascinated about. i'm a big geek about how it's made. actors have to shoot movies out of order. sometimes they'll get on set and shoot the last scene of the film on the first day of production. sophie, the little girl who plays the book thief, talks about some aspect of film making. check this out.

>> he's just messing with you, man. >> joining me now live the director malcolm d. lee chestnut, one of the stars. we picked a clip with the white guy in the movie. not sure why that happened but nevertheless, i think this is amazing and every person i told that you were going to be on today, what took so long. tell me, what took so long? >> i'm a slow writer, that's all there is to it. >> there has to be more. best man was my first movie, i didn't want to repeat myself and wanted to make a movie that is going to be a classic. sequels are tough. they are often rehash of the same -- >> it seems like a lot of bad ones come out. >> and -- i won't name names. >> hangover. >> shots fired. >> it happens. if i was ever going to rejoin the characteristics it would be ten years later when they had a chance to live life. >> you would have a storyline, wouldn't be for the sake of having a sequel. do you understand how the fans have been suffering and you've been wanting to see the characters and where the love lives have taken them and romances. >> there's only three days left. >>

best man holiday, 12 years after fans fell in love with the original movie, morris chestnut and malcolm d. leee to tack about the sequel and the fight to get more diversity on the big screen. "news nation" is following hillary clinton's surging momentum. a new poll shows she's stronger

first time filmmaker, malcolm d. lee, cousin of spike lee. they're reuniting over the holidays.'t say what it happens. it jumps to a ab sush element to a comedic element. i gave it 3 and a half out of 5 because the rest of the movie delivers. morris chestnut is a great actor. i definitely think it's worth seeing. only costs $17 million to make. it's projected to do over $30 million this weekend. >> i wish i had invested. kevin mccarthy from l.a., thanks a lot. >> thank you so much. you can follow me on twitter twalt kevinmccarthy. go see "gravity." >> kevin, thanks. >>> coming up next on the show, it's a disturbing new trends with teens, the knockout game. >> what every parent needs to see. >> that's horrible. >> disgusting. >>> alec baldwin claiming he was justified for attacking a fox reporter and this morning he is making a brand-new threat against america. stay tuned. alec baldwin threats. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it'

malcolm d. lee. i am so happy to have you here. your film made $30 million, not $300 million.dy told me about this. i have so many questions to ask you. respond to that emotion that people were having about this film, "best man holiday" described as a race-theme film. what was your response to that moment? >> i heard about it on social media. i didn't see the usa today headline first. i, you know, it doesn't surprise me that it got described that way because it's lazy journalism in my mind to describe a movie that has african-american characters in there, just human beings and being american as race themed. i was glad people came out in force and denounced that because even with the first "best man" and every movie i have tried to make have had universal themes, they are relatable characters, they all have wants and desires and things that make them tick. they happen to be african-american or black. >> yet, there is a racial specificity to it that is part of the great pleasure, particularly for black audiences and watching it. the moment in the film when the men perform the ne