Lee Daniels to direct The Paperboy; Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire, and Zac Efron to star

It took about four years for Lee Daniels to follow-up his directorial debut, Shadowboxer, with his big breakout hit, Precious. That film really catapulted him into superstar filmmaker status, but for awhile it was looking like it would be forever before he would land another gig. He had been developing Selma, centered around civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., but issues with MLK's estate put the kibosh on that one. Fortunately what I think is an even better opportunity was right around the corner, as THR reports that Daniels will direct an adaptation of Pete Dexter's erotic crime novel, The Paperboy.

Released in 1995, the story is crime yarn about a college dropout and paperboy who joins his reporter brother in investigating the four-year old murder of the town sheriff, and whether the man convicted of the crime is truly guilty. Sounds like a solid potboiler to me, and with the cast involved this could be a film to keep an eye on. Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Tobey Maguire, and Sofia Vergara(Modern Family) are all attached.

Why is this a good move for Daniels? While Precious was a big hit, there was still some polarizing response to it, and the weighty subject matter kept a lot of people at bay. A cast like this promises that Daniels' film will reach a lot of eyes. Another thing that can only work in his favor is that Pedro Almodovar(Volver) has been developing the project alongside Dexter for something like ten years, and according to producer Avi Lerner is still involved. Daniels' and Almodovar's styles couldn't be more different, but maybe a bit of the Spanish director's mojo will rub off on him.