The Steven Spielberg-produced biopic may become Foxx and Oliver's second collaboration after 1999's 'Any Given Sunday'.
- Oct 11, 2013
AceShowbiz - Actor Jamie Foxx and director Oliver Stone could reunite in the next movie. The former is in talks to portray the titular civil rights leader in an untitled Martin Luther King Jr biopic, while the latter is in negotiations to direct the project.
The movie about the American most important figure in its civil rights movements has been in development since 2009. Steven Spielberg serves as one of the producers, while members of the King family become the executive producers.
Kario Salem ("Chasing Mavericks") is hired by DreamWorks and Warner Bros. to finalize the script previously drafted by Ronald Harwood ("Quartet"). This project could be Foxx and Stone's first reunion since 1999's football drama "Any Given Sunday".
It isn't the only MLK film that is in the works. A rival project called "Memphis" is currently developed by director Paul Greengrass, whose next film "Captain Phillips" is due this coming weekend. Forest Whitaker is rumored taking on the lead role.
The Spielberg-produced biopic will follow the famous civil rights activist from his rise all the way to his assassination in 1968, while the Greengrass-directed pic will depict King's final days before his murder. While the former gets approval from the influential figure's family, the latter is not so much. The MLK family and his close confidante especially objected a scene where King is reportedly depicted sharing a bed with a woman who was not his wife.
