Will Smith is reportedly very keen for Denzel Washington to sign on for the lead role in Hurricane Katrina drama The American Can.
Smith has been trying to bring the project to the big screen for at least two years. Originally signing on to produce and star in the film, he now intends to stay strictly behind the camera, offering up the role to Washington.
Smith's recent decision to star in M. Night Shyamalan’s One Thousand A.E., has now been pushed back to January 2012, forcing Smith to bring forward The American Can.
The Hurricane Katrina story follows the harrowing events impacted upon residents of the American Can apartment complex when the levees broke.
Smith is keen for Washington to play real-life character and ex-marine John Keller, who, trapped by eleven feet of fetid water for two days, stayed behind to ward off looters and help the dozens of residents who couldn’t evacuate.
John Lee Hancock, writer-director of Oscar-nominated film The Blind Side, has written the script for the Smith-produced feature and is also attached to direct.