De Niro, Daniels to Unite on Civil Rights Film

In her blog, Deadline: Hollywood, Nikki Finke’s is reporting that Robert De Niro is set to star in Lee Daniels' next film, “Selma.” Daniels’ most recent film is Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, for which he earned a Directors Guild of America nomination. Daniels also produced Halle Berry's Oscar winning movie, Monsters Ball, and directed Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Helen Mirren in the 2006 drama, Shadowboxer.

De Niro, a two-time Oscar winner (Godfather II, Raging Bull), will play Alabama Gov. George Wallace in the civil rights era film. Wallace’s unwillingness to give blacks their rights even while the rest of the country started to dissolve segregation, lead to three famous marches, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama.

Daniels told Comingsoon.net's Edward Douglas in October. "It's a snapshot of the march. It's really Lyndon Johnson's story. Martin Luther King is a part of it, but it's really the arc of a man that starts out as a racist who is forced to look at himself in the mirror and then ultimately side with King. It's really a journey of a white cat and how he sneers at tradition."

The main focus of Finke’s piece at Deadline: Hollywood is about switching talent agencies. The focus of Douglas’ piece is about Daniels’ attempts to make a film based upon the musical Miss Saigon. Thanks to AOL’s Black Voice Movies for the heads up.