“Glee” mastermind Ryan Murphy has dropped out of the running to direct Sony’s musical “Annie” remake, reports Deadline.com.
The Will Smith production is set to star his daughter, Willow Smith (who had a Billboard Hot 100 hit last year with “Whip My Hair”).
Overbrook Entertainment partners James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are producing alongside multi-hyphenate rapper Jay-Z.
In addition to creating TV hits “Glee” and “Nip/Tuck,” Murphy directed “Running With Scissors” and last year’s “Eat Pray Love” with Julia Roberts.
The Broadway musical “Annie” was previously adapted for the big screen in 1982, directed by Hollywood legend John Huston (“The African Queen,” “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”) and starring Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, and Aileen Quinn as the titular tyke.