Lee Daniels Up For Sammy Davis Jr Project

What happens when you have a fantastic week at the box office? Well if you’re Lee Daniels, the director of The Butler, you already have your eyes on another project. It’s no surprise that with success and critical acclaim projects will roll in, but no one really expected Daniels to tackle Sammy Davis Jr.

Now that’s he’s covered history, and has already taken on a controversy story like Precious, it’s time for Lee Daniels to take on an iconic story, which leads him to consider Sammy Davis Jr’s story for his next project.

According to Showbiz 411, Lee Daniels may head on over to HBO which is where the Sammy Davis Jr project is being developed. Currently there are no details about the project, and no one knows who will play Sammy Davis Jr. Currently HBO is receiving praise for Behind The Candelabra which received Emmy nominations, so we’re not really worried on how they’re going to handle a Sammy Davis Jr story since that seems to be one of their strengths.

Since 2007 there were four Sammy Davis Jr projects circulating, one which saw Andre 3000 in the race to play the entertainer. Of course none of the projects happened, and Andre 3000 went on to play Jimi Hendrix, but that seems to be a pretty okay choice if Lee Daniels agrees to direct the project.

The only person to play Sammy Davis Jr so far has been Don Cheadle in the 1998 HBO film The Rat Pack. Back then he was alongside Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin, Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra, Angus MacFaden, and Bobby Slayton.

As for the Sammy Davis Jr biopic coming to fruition, Lee Daniels has another huge undertaking. He has a Janis Joplin biopic with Amy Adams attached to star.

Are you interested in a Sammy Davis Jr. biopic?