The Martin Luther King Jr. movie seems to be the white whale of biopics. No less than three different attempts to bring the iconic civil rights leader to the big screen are currently underway, but one of them has just lost a director. Last fall, DreamWorks revealed they were putting together an MLK project and eyeing Oliver Stone to direct, with Jamie Foxx in the lead role, and none other than Steven Spielberg putting his weight behind the movie as a producer. But it seems that once again, the King estate has kiboshed a film that won’t show the man in anything less than a perfect light.
Stone hit Twitter today to announce he had left the project and provided details on his script, which would have shown both the herosim and flaws of MLK, and those around him. Here’s what Stone had to say:
Sad news. My MLK project involvement has ended. I did an extensive rewrite of the script, but the producers won’t go with it.
— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) January 17, 2014
The script dealt w/ issues of adultery, conflicts within the movement, and King’s spiritual transformation into a higher, more radical being
— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) January 17, 2014
I’m told the estate & the ‘respectable’ black community that guard King’s reputation won’t approve it. They suffocate the man & the truth.
— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) January 17, 2014
I wish you could see the film I would’ve made. I fear if ‘they’ ever make it, it’ll be just another commemoration of the March on Washington
— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) January 17, 2014
Martin, I grieve for you. You are still a great inspiration for your fellow Americans—but, thank God, not a saint.
— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) January 17, 2014
A bit of a bummer, but perhaps not a total surprise. Paul Greengrass‘ “Memphis” ran afoul of the estate back in 2011 for similar reasons when he was first trying to mount the movie, and their concerns wound up forcing Universal to kibosh the film (Greengrass does still intend to make the biopic, though he has recently said it will likely be after he does another movie first). And Lee Daniels‘ “Selma” (recently taken over by Ava DuVernay) also ran into the same sorts of problems a few years ago too.