Well, after spending the better part of the spring and summer assembling its massive ensemble cast, Lee Daniels' "The Butler" is now rolling and perhaps in preparation for sales at TIFF next month, the first official image from the film has dropped. And it's a silhouette.
What you're seeing is Forest Whitaker in the lead playing Eugene Allen, the late White House butler who served eight presidents during his tenure from 1952 to 1986. As you might guess, the film covers a big chunk of American history, with a massive cast ready to pop in and out portraying various historical figures with David Oyelowo, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, John Cusack, Robin Williams, Liam Neeson, Minka Kelly, Alex Pettyfer, Colman Dingo, Vanessa Redgrave, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber and more all featuring.
Quincy Jones is scoring the film and while there is no distributor on board just yet, that may change in a matter of weeks. For more on how the project developed, check out Thompson On Hollywood's interview with producer Laura Ziskin who discusses how she put her weight behind the pic to help get it made. [Variety]