Filmmaker Spike Lee is no stranger to controversy. He is now creating a new nickname for the Windy City: Chiraq. It is a name that combines Chi-town with Iraq in a nod to America’s third-largest city as a war zone akin to Iraq.

“Chiraq” is reportedly the working title of a new movie Lee is filming in the most violent neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side and elsewhere in the city. A war of words is erupting, and Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel is challenging Lee’s depiction of Chicago as a city given over to violence and despair.

Many officials in Chicago want a new working title for the film. An all-star Hollywood cast is involved in the movie including South Side native Jennifer Hudson. The other stars cast in the movie are Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, Wesley Snipes, and Nick Cannon.