Can you picture Lee Daniels directing a Wolverine movie? If you answered yes, congratulations, you have one more thing in common with Hugh Jackman. When Collider recently sat down with Daniels to discuss The United States vs. Billie Holiday, he told us about the time Jackman, having loved Daniels' Oscar-winning Precious, got the filmmaker a meeting at Fox to pitch an X-Men story.
It...did not go well. Here's what Daniels told us:
"A lot of actors call me. I remember after I did Precious, Hugh Jackman called and wanted me to do a Wolverine. And he sent me into the studio to Fox, I guess that's where they do them at. And I had never done a studio film before and it was a disaster and I literally pulled over ... Yeah, it was at Fox because I pulled over to the Kentucky Fried Chicken afterwards and ate a whole six-pack of wings. It was the worst meeting of my life. I don't know how he gets Wolverine from Precious, but I love him and he's a friend to this day."
He continued: "I pitched. I pitched my way right out of the room."
Obviously, I'm now dying to know the pitch, especially considering that timeline puts the meeting just a little after X-Men Origins: Wolverine, an entire mess of a movie. Alas, it's another of a million Hollywood details lost to backrooms and board meetings. I'd say both Daniels and Wolverine turned out fine, though. Fox brought on James Mangold to make the pretty-great duo of The Wolverine and Logan while Daniels co-created Empire, the largest show in the world for quite some time. Alls well that ends well, and all that.
The United States vs. Billie Holiday is currently available to stream on Hulu. Look for Steve's full interview with Lee Daniels soon.