Precious director Lee Daniels has been circling a handful of projects with David Oyelowo, who’s about to be seen on screen in Disney’s The Help, so it was only a matter of time before they connected on a film in which they could collaborate.

That movie will be Daniels’ The Paperboy, a death-row drama that has seen its fair share of casting changes in the pre-production stage. Deadline reports that Oyelowo will join Daniels’ film in the role of Yardley, a journalist investigating the potential innocence of a convicted murderer (John Cusack) with help from a fellow writer (Matthew McConaughey). In previous reports, the two writers were supposed to be siblings. It would seem that’s not the case anymore (though I suppose adoption is always plausible). The film, produced by famed director Pedro Almodovar, is based on the novel by Pete Dexter.

Daniels obviously believes in Oyelowo’s talent. At one point they were set to make the Civil Rights drama Selma together, with Daniels boldly casting Oyelowo in the role of Matin Luther King Jr. Though that project stalled (temporarily, Deadline predicts), it’s good to see Daniels found another juicy role for this versatile, yet still unknown actor.

He won’t be unknown for long. Oyelowo has two major movies opening in August, starting with Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, where he’ll play Steven Jacobs, the businessman who inadvertently triggers the monkey infestation. Later, he appears in the aforementioned Tate Taylor-adaptation of The Help as a local preacher who offers support to Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. Daniels might be snatching up Oyelowo right before his star rapidly ascends.