Colman Domingo Helming ‘Scandalous’ At Miramax; Sydney Sweeney Plays Kim Novak, David Jonsson Is Sammy Davis Jr.

EXCLUSIVE: Colman Domingo will make his directorial debut in Scandalous, a fast tracked Miramax drama about the clandestine love affair between film star Kim Novak and singer/dancer and film star Sammy Davis Jr. in 1957. Sydney Sweeney will play Novak, and David Jonsson will play Davis Jr.

Plan is to shoot the film — imagine a movie about classic Hollywood being shot in Los Angeles — when Domingo and Sweeney complete Season 3 of the HBO series Euphoria.

Much the way she did with the sleeper hit Anyone But You, Sweeney was very active in putting this one together and she will be a producer along with Tani Cohen and Bobby Roth, with Jon Levin exec producing. Matthew Fantaci wrote the script.

Before he became Miramax CEO, Jon Glickman originated the project at Panoramic, and remained high on it. Novak, star of Vertigo and Rat Pack member Davis Jr were at the peak of star power when they met while guests on The Steve Allen Show. They fell hard for each other, but as rumors spread, the rampant racism in America threatened to derail their careers. Novak experience the ire of Harry Cohn, the Columbia Pictures chief who had the actress under contract. Their covert affair became big news when a Chicago gossip columnist in early 1958 wrote a detailed account of their relationship, including their plans to marry. This despite their denials. Davis Jr nine days later married a Black chorus girl named Loray White.

Domingo is coming off acclaimed turns in Rustin and Sing Sing, and he’s also working on a film about Nat King Cole he would star in and direct. He’s repped by WME and Liebman Entertainment, Sweeney by Paradigm; CAA and United Agents rep Jonsson, who stars in Industry and is coming off Alien: Romulus and is next starring in the Francis Lawrence-directed The Long Walk, based on the Stephen King novel.