Denzel Stages Mass Debate

Were you all excited at the prospect of Denzel Washington going all Rat Pack to direct the biopic of Sammy Davis Jr? Yes, well so were we but according to a recent interview with MTV, Washington's follow-up to directorial debut Antwone Fisher will be focusing less on the 1950s and more on the 1930s. Relegating himself to a producing role on the Sammy project, Washington has committed to direct The Great Debaters, a film about, yep, you guessed it, arguing with people until they roll over, beg for mercy and concede that, contrary to any former claims, you were absolutely right all along - note: this has been proved a highly successful management technique in the Empire office. Rather than a contemporary piece like the last great debate movies (did anyone else see Roy Scheider's Listen To Me? No? Just us then) Washington's film will take viewers back to the racial tensions of 1935 America in this true story of an all black high school debate team who made their mark despite prejudice and persecution. Later this month Washington will begin work on Antoine Fuqua's True Blue, another true story but this time about the rather less socially acceptable Frank Lucas, a nasty Harlem drug lord.