Their first collaboration, The Paperboy, has not even debuted yet and already, the word at Cannes says that director Lee Daniels and star Nicole Kidman have decided to reunite for The Butler [Screen Daily].
Kidman joins a star-studded cast that includes Paperboy co-stars David Oyelowo and Matthew McConaughey, as well as Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Forest Whittaker. Whittaker leads as Eugene Allen, a butler who served in the White House for 34 years under 8 different presidents. Other potential cast members include Liam Neeson (possibly as Lyndon B. Johnson) and another Paperboy star John Cusack (once linked to the Ronald Reagan role). We’ll keep you updated as more casting announcements come.
Joining Daniels on the creative side is screenwriter Danny Strong, behind Jay Roach’s Game Change and Recount. Production will begin this July and one can check out a newly released clip from The Paperboy below, featuring Kidman.