Martin Luther King Jr. Biopic Gets an Oscar Nominated Writer
A feature film about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. is finally going to be written for the screen by Oscar Nominated screenwriter Ronald Harwood.
Stacey Snider and Steven Spielberg’s Martin Luther King Jr. feature project is finally moving forward. The DreamWorks Studios toppers have hired Oscar-winning playwright and screenwriter Ronald Harwood (”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) to pen a biographical screenplay about the slain civil rights leader.
Harwood is a strong choice for the assignment. His script work on “The Dresser,” “Butterfly” and “The Pianist” earned him Oscar nominations, with the last taking the prize. And at 75 years old, the South Africa-born writer lived through the late 1950’s and ’60’s, when King’s oratory and influence inspired a massive civil rights movement until his murder in 1968.
Sounds great, it will be interesting to see how this film develops. I wonder who they will cast to play MLK? I’ll keep you posted on the happenings, it’s obviously pretty early to tell much. It’s good to hear that they have a solid writer who lived through that era.
Source: Risky Business
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They need to allow someone to portray Dr.King who at least resembles him and has a great speaking voice. The usual cast of choices are all talented ,but,have little in common with Dr. King. King was short and stocky with a booming baritone voice.Perhaps casting someone his actual height (5’6 1/4′) won’t work,but, someone of around 5’7-5’9″ would.The Denzel types are super,but, not for a man on the order of Dr. King.