‘Mustang’ Breakout Will Direct Daniel Craig and Halle Berry In L.A. Riots Drama

Few filmmakers arrive with debut films as startling and masterful as Deniz Gamze Erguven, whose “Mustang” stunned the festival circuit last year and earned four César Awards and an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Fortunately for domestic fans of the sisterhood drama, the filmmaker is waisting no time planning her English-language debut. Erguven had previously cast Halle Berry in a role, and now Deadline reports that Daniel Craig is circling the project as well.

READ MORE: Meet France’s Oscar Entry, ‘Mustang,’ a Controversial 5-Headed Monster of Femininity

Entitled “Kings,” the upcoming drama is set against the rising tensions in Los Angeles during the 1992 Rodney King trial. Craig would take on the role of Ollie, one of South Central’s only white residents who befriends Berry’s character, a protective mother who looks after a group of kids. Berry’s mother is secretly in love with Ollie, and the two must join forces to try and track down the children as violence consumes the city during the riots.

The drama marks Erguven’s passion project. She brought the script to the Cannes L’Atélier co-production market in 2011 in order to acquire funding, but decided to make “Mustang” her debut instead. Craig, meanwhile, continues to avoid rumors over whether or not he is or isn’t James Bond. He has one picture left on his 007 contract following last fall’s “Spectre,” though he’s publicly expressed his disinterest in returning to the role. He recently signed on to star in Todd Field’s Showtime miniseries “Purity.”

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