'Prince of Darkness' Movie News: Don Cheadle in Talks to Star, Produce Biopic Film
Don Cheadle is in talks to be a part of the upcoming film "Prince of Darkness."
According to Variety, the "Hotel Rwanda" actor is in negotiations to star in and produce the biopic movie about 19th century millionaire Jeremiah G. Hamilton. When Hamilton passed away, he was often referred to as the richest black man in the United States.
Steven Baigelman, who co-wrote the screenplay of the film "Miles Ahead" with Cheadle, has been brought in to adapt the upcoming movie's script from Shane White's book "Prince of Darkness: The Story of Jeremiah G. Hamilton, Wall Street's First Black Millionaire."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
White's book was the winner of the 2015 Society for Historians of the Early American Republic Best Book Prize. It tells the story of how in the middle decades of the 19th century, Hamilton became a well-known figure on Wall Street.
He was a one-time opponent of Cornelius Vanderbilt, America's first tycoon, who grudgingly came to respect him. In fact, their rivalry was so well-known that the day after Vanderbilt's death on January 4, 1877, an almost full-page obituary on the front of the National Republican mentioned that Hamilton was the only man who ever fought Commodore to the end, in the context of Wall Street share transactions.
However, what Vanderbilt's obituary failed to mention was that Hamilton was African-American. Although Hamilton's origins were lowly, he was reportedly the richest person of color in the United States, possessing a fortune of $2 million at the time, which is in excess of $250 million in today's currency.
Cheadle has extensive film credits dating back to 1995's "Devin in a Blue Dress." Since then, he has appeared in movies such as "Boogie Nights," "Out of Sight," "Traffic," the "Ocean's Eleven" film franchise and "Crash." He is also widely known for his role as James Rhodes/War Machine in the "Iron Man" and "Captain America" movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
On television, the actor recently played the lead role in Showtime's "House of Lies," which earned him four Emmy nominations.
"Prince of Darkness" has no official release date yet.
