A couple years back, Yann Demange was hot in Hollywood and with good reason, as he had just impressed everybody with the visceral ” ’71” starring Jack O’Connell. And while director didn’t leap right away to a new project, his name was certainly around town, and he was attached to helm the corrupt cop documentary “The Seven Five.” Now he’s got another tale of moral duplicity on deck, coupled with a big name star.
Matthew McConaughey is in negotiations for “White Boy Rick” which Demange will direct. Based on the Black List script by Logan and Noah Miller, it will tell the true story of Richard Wershe Jr., the only white boy gangster/drug kingpin in an African-American-dominated 1980s Detroit ghetto, who was also working undercover for the feds. Nonetheless, he was sentenced to life in jail for his illegal activities.
The project is moving along quite steadily, with cameras slated to roll early next year. And I can assume this will put the kibosh on “The Trials Of White Boy Rick,” which is based on the same tale, and had Joseph Kosinski set to direct a couple of years ago. But I think Demange is a better fit anyway for this kind of story, and certainly displayed with ” ’71” has an ability to couple emotion with gritty action. [Deadline]
