Fox has a new hip-hop drama in the works, and they are bringing in some pretty big guns. Lee Daniels, famed director of Precious and The Butler, is helming Empire. The series will star Terrence Howard, known for his role as War machine in Iron Man, and his breakout role in Hustle & Flow. The series will also reunite Daniels with Gabourey Sidibe (American Horror Story: Coven, The Big C). Check out the official promo preview below:
Daniels recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about why he decided to take his new show to Fox, as opposed to a more freeing format like cable:
“It would have been easy for me to go to HBO, Showtime, Starz--but it was almost like The Butler; it was so hard for me to be PG-13 in that. It was so hard that I was scratching my skin off while I was directing. My sh*t is R. It's out there. It's sometimes even X. I was uncomfortable doing PG-13. So how do I push myself further? Let's do this PG! Also now working with notes? That concept is incomprehensible to me. I only get notes from actors. But Fox and the studio have been like, ‘What do you guys want? Let's make it happen.’ We didn't get everything. I asked for everything because I'm a pig. A couple things were cut, but for the most part we got what we wanted. We have a great team of writers. But here's the thing: It's all done through the music. Timbaland has done some music that is off the chain. So we experience it in a very honest way. It's not staged. We are Glee without the G. I came up with that two nights ago.”
Daniels went on to amend that claim, adding that its more like ABC’s Nashville:
“Actually, it's more like Nashville. And The Sopranos, because there is not much violence. And Dynasty. I wanted to make a black Dynasty. You sit there and go, ‘No, this b*tch didn't! Oh my f***ing God!’”
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