Precious Director Lee Daniels May Bring The Scottsboro Boys to the Big Screen

Academy Award-nominated Precious director Lee Daniels hopes to develop a film adaptation of John Kander and the late Fred Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys, according to Deadline.com. Daniels attended the musical's opening earlier this fall and has reportedly seen the show several times.

Director/choreographer Susan Stroman will be an executive producer of the film with stage producer Barry Weissler also onboard. Despite critical acclaim, the musical recently announced a December 12 closing date at the Lyceum Theatre. The production starss Joshua Henry as Haywood Patterson, John Cullum as the Interlocutor, Joshua Henry as Haywood Patterson, Colman Domingo as Mr. Bones, Forrest McClendon as Mr. Tambo and Sharon Washington as the Lady. No film casting has been reported.

Daniels has also been linked to a screen adaptation of the long-running musical, Miss Saigon. His past producing credits include The Woodsman and Monster's Ball.

Featuring a book by David Thompson, the musical is based on the notorious “Scottsboro” case in the 1930s, where nine African American men were unjustly accused of attacking two white women on a train in Alabama. The young men were convicted by an all-white jury and spent years in jail, while the case was tried and retried. 

The tuner first played off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre earlier this year before a revised pre-Broadway production was presented at the Guthrie Theatre in the summer. The off-Broadway production was honored with the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical during its inital run at the Vineyard.