Lee Daniels has had problems setting up financing for a follow-up to his Oscar-nominated movie Precious, but now the cameras are rolling on The Butler, and to prove it the silhouetted image above has been released. In case you didn’t know, the figure is Forest Whitaker, who plays the title character in the film.
He plays the real-life figure Eugene Allen, who rose through the ranks at the White House from 1952 through 1986, where he served eight different Presidents and eventually became the head butler. It gave him a unique vantage point on the civil rights struggle. Expect plenty more interesting images, as the starry cast includes Robin Williams and Melissa Leo as Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, Joh Cusack as Richard Nixon, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, James Marsden and Minka Kelly as JFK and Jackie O and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan, while the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Alex Pettyfer, Lenny Kravitz, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Redgrave, Jesse Williams, Mariah Carey, and David Oyelowo also star.