The Butler, Starring Alan Rickman, Vanessa Redgrave and Liev Schreiber, Gets Weinstein Company Pick-Up NEWS By Broadway.com Staff September 24, 2012 - 3:45PM (BROADWAY.COM)

The Weinstein Company has acquired distribution rights for The Butler, the upcoming ensemble drama from Precious director Lee Daniels. The film  stars Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Leo, James Marsden, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber and Robin Williams. No release date has been announced.

The Butler follows an African-American man (Whitaker) who served as a butler in the White House for more than thirty years, tending to eight Presidents. The all-star cast will play various public figures, including Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, Rickman as Ronald Reagan and Williams as Dwight Eisenhower.

READ MORE: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/164227/the-butler-starring-alan-rickman-vanessa-redgrave-and-liev-schreiber-gets-weinstein-company-pick-up/

Alan Rickman to star as U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 'The Butler' (MUGGLENET)

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Alan Rickman - who portrayed Potions Master and ultimate good guy Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films - is slated to star as the 40th United States President, Ronald Reagan, in a new film titled The Butler.

Alan Rickman is just the latest of the big-name stars to join the cast that includes Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Jane Fonda, Liam Neeson, and John Cusack. Matthew McConaughey, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Terrence Howard have also been mentioned for the film.

The Butler will present the details of the life of Eugene Allen (Forest Whitaker), a White House servant who worked for every president from Harry Truman to Reagan

READ MORE:  http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/5640

Alan Rickman: McConaughey, Rickman, & More Attached to Lee Daniels' 'The Butler' by Ben Pearson May 10, 2012 Source: THR (FIRST SHOWINGS.NET)

Since he left romantic comedies behind in 2009, Matthew McConaughey has been reclaiming his spot in the industry as a respectable leading man. He recently worked with John Cusack on Lee Daniels' The Paperboy, the director's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated Precious. According to THR, there's a reunion in the works since McConaughey is now attached to star alongside Cusack in Daniels' upcoming historical drama The Butler, led by Forrest Whitaker as a White House servant who worked under the reign of eight presidents. Cuba Gooding Jr., Alan Rickman, and Terrence Howard are all attached, too. Read on!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/mcconaughey-rickman-more-attached-to-lee-daniels-the-butler/

Alan Rickman: Harry Potter's Snape Could Play Ronnie to Jane Fonda's Nancy Reagan (FORBES)

Roger Friedman, Contributor

Yes, it’s true: Jane Fonda will play Nancy Reagan in a movie about the butler who served several presidents in the White House. Variety reported it yesterday because yours truly was asked to hold off reporting it for a day. (Won’t do that again.)

My scoop: Alan Rickman, the fine British actor known to children everywhere as the evil Snape from “Harry Potter,” will likely be Ronald Reagan to Jane’s Nancy. Rickman has a wonderful sneer to bring to his role.


READ MORE:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerfriedman/2012/03/28/harry-potters-snape-could-play-ronnie-to-jane-fondas-nancy-reagan/