Foxx as Django
Director Roland Emmerich picked Jamie Foxx to play the president of the United States in the upcoming film White House Down.
Although no official offer has been presented to Foxx, filmmakers admitted that they are intrigued by the Academy Award-winning actor. If the deal goes according to plan, Foxx will join the cast of the political action film along with Channing Tatum, who will take on the role of a heroic secret service agent.
White House Down is Sony’s new film which will follow the chain of events that unfold as a terrorist group takes over the White House and holds everyone inside hostage. The film is in direct competition with Millennium Films’ White House Taken which will tell a very similar story. White House Taken is expected to beat White House Down to theaters since Millennium Films is scheduled to start production well before Sony.
According to Variety, Millennium Films has selected Gerard Butler to take on the presidential role and African-American director Antoine Fuqua will direct the film.
Sony’s massive budget has given White House Down much more attention in the eyes of big agencies. Back in March Sony revealed that they would spend a whopping $3 million on the spec script—and unheard of sum for a script written on spec—and hoped to start production some time in August.
The Dreamgirls actor is currently shooting Django Unchained, a slavery-themed Western for which Foxx plays the leading role. In this film, Foxx is a freed slave turned bounty hunter who is forced to face off with an evil plantation owner. The focus of the film won’t be on Foxx seeking to end slavery; the main focus is on love—specifically his love for his wife, played by Kerry Washington. As Django, Foxx will be searching for his slave wife and happens to face some daunting obstacles along the way.
Django Unchained is scheduled to hit theaters later this year.
