Empire creator Lee Daniels wants to make a gay superhero film – Superb***h – but he thinks a white director might find it easier.
The gay director has been teasing the project for some time, but said in an interview with Insider that the film has struggled to get off the ground.
“I have been trying to get a superhero movie going for quite a while,” Daniels said.
“At the height of Empire, I was trying to get a superhero movie going – a gay superhero movie going.
Lee Daniels says his gay superhero film could be given to a white guy.
He continued: “I’ve talked about it with some people. Maybe some white filmmaker will be able to do it. Maybe they’ll give it to a white guy.”
But the Precious director said he is not deterred by resistance from studios and will always fight to do the job himself.
Maybe some white filmmaker will be able to do it. Maybe they’ll give it to a white guy.
“Anything I want done, I do it myself. It’s not like I rely on anybody to do a film. It takes time. I’ve learned. In my 30s I was frustrated, in my 40s. But whatever I want done, it will be done.
“That’s the journey that I’ve had as a gay Black filmmaker. So, I will get it done, but in my own way and in my own time.”
Superb***h has been in the works for some time.
In January 2019, Lee Daniels said his gay superhero film idea seemed “crazy” to people he told.
However, he said at the time that the film was “in the pipeline” and he had found his lead actor in the form of Instagram star @HeSoSouthEast.
In April of that year, he told CNN that the project was still in the works and said of his lead actor: “He does backflips and he has a cape and he does karate and, oh my God, he’s going to be a hero.
“I’m not putting that much money behind it,” he added, ” but “a couple of million dollars for a gay superhero movie is pretty f***ing exciting!”