Lee Daniels Marches to SELMA

Don’t be surprised if the name Lee Daniels is one of the 5 mentioned competing for Best Director at the next Oscars because if you’ve read my review and watch the drama PRECIOUS, you’ll understand Daniels is currently the force to be reckon with. It was said that he even fired his editor and cinematographer for that film because they didn’t deliver the hardcore intensity that he wanted his film to have. A bit harsh but hey, he’s the director…

Not too long ago, Daniels was circling the movie adaptation of the successful broadway MISS SAIGON with Paul Wagner as the producer. It’s the tragic love story of a Vietnamese bar girl and an American soldier before the fall of Saigon in 1975, written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil. They’re still looking for a screenwriter, so in the meantime, Daniels already got something in plan.

According to Variety, Daniels is going to direct SELMA, a drama about the historic 1965 march in the Alabama town that marked the political and emotional peak of the civil rights movement, he’s collaborating with Oscar winning producer Christian Colson (Slumdog Millionaire) on this one. Paul Webb wrote the script, no cast yet but production is expected to begin next Spring and the budget is still being sorted out.