Wesley Snipes has been offered a comeback role once his tax troubles have been resolved – director Spike Lee insists he’s the only man he wants to play his James Brown.

Many feared Lee and Snipes had fallen out when the director dropped the Blade star from his new war movie Miracle at St. Anna – but the moviemaker insists he had to recast Snipes’ role when the actor’s legal woes meant he was unable to film abroad.

Lee explains, “He was cast in the role that Derek Luke plays, but he wasn’t allowed out of the country due to his tax situation. He couldn’t get a visa, and making St. Anna would’ve required him to spend extensive time in Italy.”

But the filmmaker, who teamed up with Snipes for classic 1991 movie Boyz N the Hood, insists he has a part waiting for the actor once his ongoing appeal for freedom in light of a three-year prison sentence for tax evasion is resolved.

Lee tells King magazine, “He’s a phenomenal actor, and I truly feel that he’ll regain that power he once had. If my James Brown picture ever gets made, he’ll be playing James – and he’d kill in that, without a doubt. He still has chops.”

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WENN

Wesley Snipes has been granted permission to leave the U.S. to work abroad.

The troubled Blade star, 45, was handed a three-year prison sentence in April after officials found him guilty of failing to file taxes for five years.

He is currently free on appeal, and filed a motion last month begging Florida federal judge William Terrell Hodges to allow him the work opportunity.

Snipes argued the money he earns from the two films will “satisfy his civil tax liabilities”, and his lawyer insisted he was not a flight risk because “were he to abscond under these circumstances, it would destroy his ability to earn a living for the rest of his life”.

And Snipes has now been approved to fly to London for three days later this month to finish work on Gallowwalker, while he will spend a further eight weeks in Bangkok, Thailand to shoot Chasing The Dragon.

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WENN

Troubled Hollywood star Wesley Snipes is begging a judge to let him leave the U.S. so he can shoot two movies in Britain and Thailand, while he is appealing his conviction for tax fraud.

The Blade star was handed a three-year prison sentence in April after officials found him guilty of failing to file taxes for five years.

The 45-year-old is currently free on appeal, and has filed paperwork requesting permission to shoot Gallowwalker in London and Chasing The Dragon in Bangkok, insisting the money he earns from the two projects will “satisfy his civil tax liabilities”.

In court documents, filed on Wednesday, Snipes’ lawyer Daniel Meachum insists the actor is not a flight risk because “were he to abscond under these circumstances, it would destroy his ability to earn a living for the rest of his life.”

Meachum adds, “Mr. Snipes will, of course, voluntarily return after his work on this film – as he has done each time he has been granted permission by this court.”

But Snipes’ request may be hampered by the fact the movie star failed to return to America immediately after charges were brought against him in 2006 – he was filming Gallowwalker in Namibia.

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WENN

Wesley Snipes has landed a $200,000 legal bill from the U.S. government – seeking to recoup the cost of convicting him on tax evasion charges.

Snipes was handed a three-year sentence in April after officials found him guilty of failing to file his taxes for five years.

The actor already owes almost $3 million in unpaid taxes and now the government have filed a cost of prosecution bill in a bid to reclaim the money officials spent on bringing the case to court.

The bill relates to the huge amount of administration work that went into sorting out Snipes’ financial records. Snipes will also have to pay the expense costs of the 13 key witnesses who had to testify at his trial.

Snipes is currently free on bail while his defence team work to overturn his convictions.

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WENN

Wesley Snipes has been granted bail pending an appeal of his federal tax convictions.

The Blade star’s lawyers announced on Thursday an Ocala, Florida judge had agreed to a request by Snipes to allow him to remain free on bond while his defense team try to overturn the convictions.

Snipes was handed a three-year sentence last month after officials found him guilty of failing to file his taxes for five years.

He had been told he would have to surrender to jail by June 3rd if he wasn’t granted bail.

U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges says he was “dubious” of the appeal arguments put forward by Snipe’s legal team, but agreed to the bail request as Snipes could possibly serve his entire sentence before a decision on his appeal was made.

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WENN

Wesley Snipes has been told he must surrender to jail by June 3rd if he isn’t granted bail to appeal his federal tax convictions.

Snipes was handed a three-year sentence last month after officials found him guilty of failing to file his taxes for five years. But the Blade star’s attorneys are appealing the conviction.

To be granted freedom during the appeal, Snipes must prove he isn’t a flight risk.

His legal team claims the judge overseeing the tax trial gave the jury bad instructions.

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WENN

Whoopi Goldberg has defended jailed actor Wesley Snipes and insists he has been used to “set an example” to the American people.

Last week, the Blade actor was handed a three-year jail term by Florida Judge William Terrell Hodges after, he was convicted of failing to file his taxes for five years.

But Goldberg is convinced Hollywood stars who break the law are being used as scapegoats by the U.S government in a bid to deter other people from criminal activity.

She says, “This is not unusual. With tax evasion, (the IRS) gets very, very agitated and if you’re famous they are putting you behind some kind of bar.”

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