Filed under: News
Early word is that Lee Daniels, who directed last year's Oscar nominated film, 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire,' is considering doing a film version of the Broadway musical 'The Scottsboro Boys.'
Apparently, the Philadelphia, PA native has seen the show several times and is in early conversations to develop it, states Deadline.com .
There's no telling what project Daniels is actually lined up to do. He's been in discussion with Sony Pictures to helm 'The Butler' the story of Eugene Allen, an African American servant in the White House over 34 years, who had a unique perspective on the civil rights struggle and was invited back after retirement to witness the inauguration of the first African American president, Barack Obama.
This was after plans to do the Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights March film, 'Selma,' was shelved after funding couldn't be completed for production. Some big names like Hugh Jackman, Liam Neeson and Robert De Niro were initially attached to it.
'The Scottsboro Boys' is based on the 1930s case where nine African American men were wrongly accused of a crime. It won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award when it originated off-Broadway. The musical's director, Susan Stroman, will be an exec producer on the film and producer Barry Weissler will also be part of the producing team.
Although the musical received favorable reviews, it will be closing on December 12 due to low attendance. "We couldn't pay our bills," Weissler said in a telephone interview to Bloomberg.com .
Let's hope Daniels can find a get a distributor with deep pockets to finance the film and get it in theaters.