With the exception of The Paperboy, which should be excepted from every conversation really, Lee Daniels has been content to tell uniquely African-American stories. He hasn't been very good at doing any of them justice, and The Butler is just the latest example of that despite its strong $25M opening weekend. And even though Daniels frequently states that he has no desire to just be labeled a director of black films (he said it again recently), he's ready to tackle the story of another major figure in African-American culture.
A story over at Showbiz411 has Daniels circling a Sammy Davis Jr. biopic being developed over at HBO. That's all we know at this point, with no writers, director, or casting available. What we do know is that the rights to Davis' life are a complete mess right now, as issues of his estate must get worked out before anything moves forward. It's a large part of the reason why so many biopics about the famed entertainer and Rat Pack member have never moved forward, including one that would have had Outkast's Andre 3000 as Davis.
Daniels has a Janis Joplin film set up with Amy Adams in the lead, and if that gets cemented it will probably be next on his list. Besides, he'll need time to find someone who can best Don Cheadle's performance as Davis in the HBO film, The Rat Pack. Not sure that's even possible.
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