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ANTOINE FUQUA news
Fuqua to direct Morgan Freeman as jazz impresario Duke Ellington in
"The Jazz Ambassadors."
Date: February 3, 2006
Source: Variety
New Line has acquired "The Jazz Ambassadors," a pitch for
Antoine Fuqua to direct and Morgan Freeman to star in as jazz impresario
Duke Ellington.
Fuqua hasn't made a film since 2004's " King Arthur." He developed
"American Gangster" with Denzel Washington, only to watch
Universal pull the plug over budget, and then got close with the Warner
Bros./Icon drama "Under and Alone" until Mel Gibson decided
not to star.
Fuqua, who has busied himself directing commercials and videos, is expected
to next direct the Paramount drama "By Any Means Necessary"
this spring.
"Jazz" covers the Ellington orchestra's tour of Iraq during
a 1963 CIA-led coup that would eventually pave the way for Saddam Hussein's
rise to power.
Jeremy Donner will write the script. Freeman and his Revelations partner
Lori McCreary will produce with Fuqua, whose deal is being negotiated.
Donner, a tyro writer who studied film at AFI, found the historical
tale and came to Revelations carrying a rights deal with Tom Simons,
a State Dept. official who accompanied Ellington's band as a young man.