• Director Lee Daniels Departs Long-Gestating Richard Pryor Biopic

    A biopic about legendary comedian Richard Pryor has been developing long enough that Eddie Murphy was once considered for the lead role, but has since been hired to play the father of the iconic comic, who will instead be played by Mike Epps. The project finally seemed like it was on track to make it…

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  • Lee Daniels Directing Supernatural Thriller 'Demon House'

    The Paperboy by Lee Daniels has become one of my favorite trashy movies because it is totally nuts. And so the idea of a Lee Daniels horror film is fantastic, because that could be just the framework in which he can let loose some similar energy with a different vibe. Enter Demon House, a supernatural…

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  • Mike Epps Takes The Lead In Richard Pryor Biopic

    Looks like the lead in the Richard Pryor biopic has gone to Mike Epps. Somehow, early on in the process, it looked like Nick Cannon was going to get the gig, and thus be enshrined in proximity to Pryor's simply by virtue of proximity. But then Mike Epps came roaring up from the back of…

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  • Lee Daniels, Wes Craven, Michael Cera, And More Directing '10 Commandments'

    Bible-based projects are hotter than ever. This year alone, we'll see Ridley Scott's Exodus, Darren Aronofsky's Noah, and the Jesus tale Son of God. But while most are taking the familiar form of an historical epic, WGN America is going a different way with their religiously inspired new miniseries. Produced by The Weinstein Co., 10 Commandments…

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  • Now Lee Daniels Is In Talks To Make The Richard Prior Biopic

    It almost feels like there could be a movie about the effort to make a biopic about Richard Pryor. Various producers and directors have been attached to the film over the past few years, with Richard Condon almost getting the green light back in 2010. The film is in the hands of the Weinstein Company,…

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  • Lee Daniels Wants To Turn Alex Pettyfer Into A Gay Action Hero

    I had a long conversation at Fantastic Fest with Evan of Badass Digest about our growing mutual interest in Lee Daniels, director of Precious, The Paperboy and The Butler. Our shared opinion boiled down to the fact that Daniels is a rare man, the sort of director who straddles fringe and mainstream, and who makes weirdly…

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  • TV Bits: 'Community', 'Game Of Thrones', 'Houdini', 'El Mariachi'

    Following in the footsteps of his old boss Gus, Mike will drop by Greendale in the next season of Community. Also after the jump: Game of Thrones recasts one of its roles for Season 4 Lee Daniels is circling a Sammy Davis Jr. movie for HBO History greenlights Houdini mini with Adrien Brody FX is…

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  • Ava DuVernay Takes Over Lee Daniels' Martin Luther King Jr. Biopic 'Selma'

    You may recall that a couple of years back, Lee Daniels was debating between two civil-rights themed projects. He ultimately settled on the White House drama The Butler, which opens next month. But the other, Selma, hasn't been forgotten entirely -- it's just in new hands now. Ava DuVernay, the rising star behind last year's Sundance…

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  • First Look: Forest Whitaker In Lee Daniels' 'The Butler'

    It took a couple of years after Precious for director Lee Daniels to get cameras rolling on his follow-up, the lurid Southern melodrama The Paperboy, but he's barely even taking a breather before heading into his next picture. Even as The Paperboy gears up for its theatrical run, Daniels has already started shooting The Butler with…

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  • Lee Daniels To Direct Hugh Jackman In MLK Assassination Film 'Orders To Kill'

    After Precious became a hit, director Lee Daniels ended up looking into dual true-story films with civil rights interests. The first, Selma, lined up an impressive cast (Hugh Jackman, Liam Neeson, David Oyelowo, Robert De Niro, Cedric the Entertainer) for a tale about the relationship between Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson, and…

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  • Robin Williams Cast As Dwight D. Eisenhower In 'The Butler'

    Precious director Lee Daniels is putting together The Butler, and he's handing Robin Williams a razor before signing him on to the film. Williams is now set to play former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the movie, which traces the true story of Eugene Allen, who served in the White House for three decades, through…

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  • Forest Whitaker Likely To Be 'The Butler' For Director Lee Daniels

    A couple years ago, Precious director Lee Daniels went back and forth on the idea of filming the life of longtime White House servant Eugene Allen for the movie The Butler, or making a civil rights drama called Selma. In the end, he made neither, choosing instead to shoot The Paperboy with Zac Efron, John…

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