Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron are sexy scumbags in the trailer for Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy

Lee Daniels’ PRECIOUS was a sign of great things to come from a new voice in directing. Whether you liked the film or not, it was definitely well directed. We have been hearing about Daniels’ follow-up film THE PAPERBOY for a while and have seen the images of a slutty Nicole Kidman, a sweaty Matthew MCConaughey, and a mutton-chopped Zac Efron. Now we get our first look at the trailer for THE PAPERBOY.

Plot: THE PAPERBOY dips into the gritty human underside of a murder investigation, as a compelling cast of characters confront obsession, deception and their own dark, dark demons on the muddy road towards retribution.

It all begins in the steamy rural backwater of Moat County, Florida, where things have been done the same way for decades, yet change is bubbling beneath the surface. Boyish Jack Jansen (Efron), son of the local newspaper publisher, has just returned home after being kicked out of college, only to take the lowly job of paperboy. But that too changes when his idolized journalist brother Ward (McConaughey) comes to town from Miami on the trail of a story that could make his career.

Bringing in tow his hotshot writing partner Yardley (Oyelowo) and the alluring death-row groupie Charlotte Bless (Kidman), Ward plans to prove that an innocent man has been railroaded on his way to the electric chair. With Jack as their driver, the quartet arranges to meet Hillary Van Wetter (Cusack), the seedy alligator hunter hastily convicted of killing the local sheriff, at the prison. But what erupts between them all is a tangled web of sexual tension, mixed motives and shadowy facts that will set off not only a search for the truth but a chain reaction of passion and violence. Observing it all is Jack’s only real confidante — the disregarded family maid Anita (Gray) – who watches in dismay as his innocence is turned inside out.

Wow, that was a lot more than I was expecting it to be. I mean, I was anticipating a good trailer but this was really good. Kidman looks to finally be doing something right with her face and Efron may be coming into his own as an actor now. McConaughey and Cusack look like their solid selves. David Oyelowo and Macy Gray round out the excellent cast.

I can’t wait until October 5th to check out THE PAPERBOY.