Lee Daniels Wants Oprah Winfrey For ‘The Butler;’ Neeson, Jackman, Kunis, Oyelowo, Cusack All Possible As Well
In the months that followed the release and general success ofLee Daniels' filmPrecious, the director consideredtwo follow-ups. One wasSelma, a civil-rights drama that would have recreated the relationship between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson. TheotherwasThe Butler, about a man named Eugene Allen, who was a servant in the White House starting in 1954 and working through eight presidencies.
Neither of those films ended up happening. Daniels madeThe Paperboyinstead, and that film will be released later this year.
But now Daniels is looking once again at makingThe Butler. The film isn’t financed at this point, but as he did when originally trying to makeSelma, Daniels is puling together a cast. Right now he’s gotHugh Jackman,Mila KunisandJohn Cusack, withDavid OyelowoandOprah Winfrey, who hasn’t acted in a live-action drama sinceBeloved, as possible additions. Finally,Liam Neesoncould end up playing Lyndon B. Johnson, a role he was previously set to play forSelma.
THRhas most of the cast announcements, saying that David Oyelowo, if cast, would play Eugene Allen. Mila Kunis would be Jackie Kennedy; John Cusack would be Richard M. Nixon. Jackman and Neeson were both slated to be part of Selma, and whileFirstShowingsays that Neeson is being approached to play LBJ, there’s no word yet of who Jackman might play.Danny Strongwrote the script based onWil Haygood’s 2008Washington PoststoryA Butler Well Served by This Election. Daniels did a rewrite. In 2010 the director said ofThe Butler,
