He made his feature film directorial debut in 1991 with the black gangster film "New Jack City", in which he also co-stars. Other lead actors are Wesley Snipes, Ice-T and Judd Nelson. "New Jack City" was produced with an estimated $8,000,000 budget. The film initially premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 1991 before being released nationally on March 8, 1991. It grossed $7,039,622 during its opening weekend. It became the highest grossing independent film of 1991, grossing a total of $47,624,253 domestically. It was also well received by critics. That same year, he directed one episode of "Gabriel's Fire" and acted in the TV film "".