Daniel Craig May Star in L.A. Riots Film from Director of Mustang

Newcomer writer/director Deniz Gamze Erguven has a follow-up to her acclaimed debut film Mustang in the works, and it may star James Bond alum Daniel Craig, per Deadline. Halle Berry has already been slated for a lead role.

The film is called Kings, and Erguven has been sitting on it since graduating film school in 2008. It is set against the real-life racially charged L.A. riots that were sparked in 1992 due to the Rodney King trial, in which three white police officers were acquitted of charges for beating and using excessive force on the African-American King after a car chase. Craig is said to possibly be playing Ollie, one of the few white residents in South Central L.A. Ollie and Berry’s character form a partnership to find her children, who have become involved in the thickest bit of the riots. The riots ultimately resulted in 55 deaths and approximately 2,000 injuries over six days, with the California National Guard finally being called in to end the violence.

French-born Erguven first pitched the idea for Kings at the Cannes L’Atélier to investors, who were confused as to why a foreigner would want to make such an American film. That’s when she decided to put the ambitious project down and wrote Mustang, about five Turkish sisters who are confined and bound to arranged marriages after being spotted playing on a beach with boys. The Turkish-language film was very well received, getting nominations for best foreign film at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Kings is said capture the same ideal blend of drama and lightness found in Mustang.