In the seven years since Lee Daniels’ last film, The Butler, the director has had major success with TV series like Star and our own namesake, Empire – but for 2021 he’s coming back to the big-screen with a story about an American icon. The United States Vs. Billie Holiday tells the story of the legendary jazz singer, and the relationship she struck up with Jimmy Fletcher – a Black FBI agent who was sent to arrest her as the bureau pursued her on drug charges.
“When he got to understand who Billie was and what he was doing, he was sort of a double agent,” the director tells Empire in the upcoming Mandalorian issue. “He fell in love with her.” Take a look at a brand new image from the film, with singer Andra Day as Holiday, joined by Lester ‘Prez’ Young (played by Tyler James Williams). Fletcher will be played in the movie by Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes.
For Daniels, the film is not only a way to help change the narrative around Holiday’s life, but channels plenty of themes around what it means to be Black in America right now. “Obama’s Presidency unleashed the fury of Black men being shot and targeted,” he says. “America is divided. And I think that this film shows that unless we have people like Billie Holiday to stand up to the government, we’re gonna be in trouble. This movie is a call to arms.”
Read Empire’s full story on The United States Vs. Billie Holiday in the new issue, on sale Wednesday 23 December and available to pre-order here. The film is expected to arrive in UK cinemas from 12 March.