With “JFK,” “Nixon” and “W.” under his belt, Oliver Stone knows his way around (controversial) biopics of famous American leaders. But even with that said, he’s not the first guy we’d think of for a movie about Martin Luther King Jr.
Then again, we’re not the folks at DreamWorks, who are eyeing Stone to direct, and Jamie Foxx to star in a currently untitled project they’re developing. The weight behind this one is immense, with Steven Spielberg leading the producers that also include Suzanne De Passe, Madison Jones and Sam Nappi, and Ronald Harwood (“The Pianist,” “Australia“) first cracking the script while Kario Salem (“Chasing Mavericks“) is working on it now. But perhaps most crucially, the project has members of the MLK family involved as well.
Now for the caveats: THR says, “neither Stone nor Foxx have offers at this stage but meetings have taken place. The two are keen on doing it but reservations abound.” While the exact nature of the concerns aren’t being made clear, we can’t imagine Stone will want to tell a clean, sanitized version of MLK’s life. And that may cause a problem, as competing projects—in particular Paul Greengrass‘ “Memphis“—have run afoul for the MLK estate for going off the approved narrative of the civil rights leader.
Aside from “Memphis,” there are other projects brewing, including “Selma,” which Ava DuVernay recently took over from Lee Daniels. Basically, we wouldn’t bank on this coalescing quickly as MLK movies seem to be somewhat difficult to get made.
But what do you think? Is Oliver Stone the guy to get it done? Is Jamie Foxx really the best choice for MLK? Sound off below.