Lee Daniels' 'Valley of the Dolls' Script Picked Up by NBC

The "Precious" director will also exec produce the project, based on the 1967 film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's showbiz-set pot-boiler.

1:48 PM PDT 9/26/2011 by Marisa Guthrie

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NBC has picked up a script based on Jacqueline Susann's Hollywood-set pot-boiler Valley of the Dolls from Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels.

The project comes from 20th Century Fox TV and Chernin Entertainment. Daniels will write and direct and also serve as executive producer along with Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope.

The project is based on the 1967 big-screen adaptation of Susann's 1966 best-seller that starred Patty Duke and Sharon Tate. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, the movie was panned by critics but proved a hit with movie-goers although the movie's ending diverged from Susann's book. There were two subsequent TV adaptations of Valley of the Dolls: a 1981 miniseries and a 1994 nighttime soap that lasted one season.

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Daniels is currently shooting The Paperboy with Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron. Daniels is repped by CAA.