DreamWorks has set Jamie Foxx and Usher to join Beyonce in Dreamgirls, the Bill Condon-directed adaptation of the stage musical, says Variety. Condon (Chicago) also wrote the script.

The trade says the studio is circling Eddie Murphy to play singer James "Thunder" Early for the film, which begins production in January in Los Angeles.

Foxx will play the role of Curtis Taylor Jr., the Svengali-like manager who leads female singing group the Dreamettes to stardom as the Dreams. The musical was the thinly veiled story of the Supremes, and the model for Taylor was Berry Gordy.

Usher will play choreographer C.C. White. Murphy is being courted to play a character that's one part James Brown, one part Marvin Gaye -- a charismatic womanizer and R&B star who gives the Dreamettes their first big break when he invites them to sing backup for him.

Still to be cast are the remaining member of the Dreams. The filmmakers will be conducting a nationwide search for Effie, the chubby girl with an outsized voice. They will likely choose an unknown actress, who'll get the chance to belt out the most memorable songs in the musical.

More from EW:

Dream Guys
Jamie Foxx, Usher join Beyonce in ''Dreamgirls.'' Producers are also in talks with Eddie Murphy to join the cast of the movie musical by Gary Susman

After his Oscar-winning turn as Ray Charles, Jamie Foxx will play another key figure in R&B music history: Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. Okay, he's not actually playing Gordy, but rather, Curtis Taylor Jr., the fictionalized Gordy who orchestrates the rise of a Supremes-like trio in Dreamgirls, Variety reports. Also climbing aboard the Broadway-to-big-screen musical is Usher, who'll play C.C. White, the group's choreographer. They join the cast a month after DreamWorks signed real-life girl-group frontwoman Beyoncé to star in the adaptation. The studio plans to shoot the film in January (pushed back from this fall) in Los Angeles.

In talks for a rare dramatic supporting role is Eddie Murphy. He's the studio's choice to play James ''Thunder'' Early, a James Brown/Marvin Gaye-type entertainer who gives the trio their first big break as backup singers. Apparently, Beyoncé is playing Deena, the Diana Ross-like lead, because the filmmakers (led by writer-director Bill Condon, who earned an Oscar nomination for his Chicago screenplay) are planning a nationwide search for an unknown to play the splashier role of Effie, the plus-sized singer who gets to belt ''And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going.'' Our recommendation: American Idol Season 3 finalist Jennifer Hudson.

I couldn't agree with their recommendation more.

so, wasnt everyone's concern that she would be playing Effe, right?

sosgemini said:

It's my concern that we'll have Beyonce and Usher in the same movie. Talk about insufferable!