Jay-Z’s Annie remake has snagged Beasts of the Southern Wild wunderkind Quvenzhané Wallis to star in the modern retelling of the Broadway classic, and now the Hova-endorsed project is reportedly close to landing its male lead. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jamie Foxx is in talks to play Benjamin Stacks, a modernized variation of the Daddy Warbucks character who helps the iconic orphan search for her parents. THR reports that the Django Unchained actor has received an offer from Sony Pictures and industry sources say that the Oscar-winner’s team has begun to negotiate.
As Annie, nine-year-old Wallis already replaced 12-year-old Willow Smith, the Radiohead-loving daughter of one of the film’s many producers, Will Smith. Other producers include “Hard Knock Life” MC Jay-Z — who is doubling as musical supervisor for the project — and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Will Gluck (Friends With Benefits, Easy A) is directing the feature, which is expected to go into production in late fall 2013 and hit theaters in 2014. Gluck recently revised a script by actress Emma Thompson and The Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna.
