'The Wire' Writer David Simon to Lead Martin Luther King Miniseries for HBO

After years of Martin Luther King projects falling by the wayside due to one reason or another, suddenly there are a handful that are moving all at once. Paul Greengrass is still putting together Memphis, and there's another that once had Oliver Stone in the director's chair. Last week Oprah Winfrey put her producing power behind Selma, which has Ava Duvernay attached to direct. But Oprah has another MLK project brewing with HBO, and she's just landed one of the network's heavy-hitters to lead it.

Deadline reports that David Simon, the big brain behind The Wire, Homicide: Life On the Street, and Treme, will "spearhead" a six-hour miniseries for HBO, which Oprah is producing. The series will chronicle King's entire life and most important relationships, based on the acclaimed book trilogy America: In the King Years by author Taylor Branch. Simon will write the first episode and oversee the entire project with Treme co-creator Eric Overmyer.

Exciting? Definitely. This is immediately one of those watershed series that HBO seems to come up with more than the average network, and now it'll be interesting to see who gets cast in the lead role. Perhaps Oprah can lure in David Oyelowo, who has been connected to the role of King in Duvernay's film? Or perhaps Simon will turn to one of his old TV regulars, like Idris Elba?

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Oprah Winfrey and Paramount Move Forward on MLK Biopic, 'Selma'

It's been a long, tough road for Selma, the Martin Luther King biopic that once had Lee Daniels eying it as his next project. But when he dropped out to focus his energies on The Butler, the film was basically put in limbo, only to be revived last summer when Ava Duvernay (Middle of Nowhere) came aboard rewrite the script and direct. It still didn't have a home or the backing to get made, however that's all changed now with Oprah Winfrey adding her muscle as a producer.

Deadline reports that Winfrey, who was key to Lee Daniels' The Butler both on-screen and off, will produce with Paramount Pictures nearing a deal to distribute Selma domestically.  Back when Daniels was eying it, the film had some pretty big stars circling roles. Hugh Jackman, Lenny Kravitz, Cedric the Entertainer, Liam Neeson, and Robert De Niro were mentioned, with David Oyelowo set to play Dr. King. No word on if he is still involved or if someone new will be sought out.

No word on when filming could begin but they will want to move fast. Paul Greengrass is still trying to put together Memphis, the MLK film that he intends to write and direct. And another untitled biopic, possibly with Jamie Foxx in the lead, recently saw its director Oliver Stone drop out due to creative differences.

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Oliver Stone and Jamie Foxx Eyed for Martin Luther King Jr. Biopic

There are a handful of Martin Luther King Jr. projects in the works right now, and all have met with some sort of resistance. Most recently we've seen Ava Duvernay take over Selma for Lee Daniels, and Paul Greengrass has had his share of problems getting Memphis off the ground. But there's one boasting some real Hollywood muscle that has been in development for a few years and may finally be moving forward.

Dreamworks and Warner Bros. are seeking Oliver Stone to direct the untitled biopic, with Jamie Foxx sought to star as the famous civil rights leader. That's just the tip of powerhouse talent behind this one as Steven Spielberg is listed as a producer, with Kario Salem (Chasing Mavericks) penning the script based off the original draft by Oscar-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist).

But before we get too excited there are some issues that could stand in the way, including one that's pretty familiar. THR says no offers are on the table just yet, although Foxx and Stone want to do it despite having some reservations. What might those reservations be? Well, members of the MLK are on board as producers so we can assume the project has the full support of the estate. But that was also the case with Greengrass' film, and the partnership came to an abrupt and kind of ugly end when he didn't want to tell a squeaky clean version of King's story. Does anyone think that Stone, the guy behind controversial biopics JFK, Nixon, and W. is going to toe the line? Probably not.

We'll see what happens when/if this actually happens, but with so many MLK films around it's going to be a race to see which one arrives first.

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Ava DuVernay to Direct MLK Biopic, 'Selma'

As Lee Daniels was still riding the wave of Precious good will, he began eying a number of civil rights films as his next projects. One was The Butler, which should debut next month assuming all of this title nonsense with Warner Bros. can be ironed out. The other was Selma, a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic that would have been pretty amazing if all had come together. David Oyelowo was attached to play the civil rights leader, with Hugh Jackman, Lenny Kravitz, Cedric the Entertainer, Liam Neeson, and Robert De Niro circling prominent roles. Pretty incredible, but nothing ever really developed, and with Daniels already scratching a historical drama itch with The Butler, an up 'n coming director has come on to make Selma a reality.

A story at Deadline reports that Ava DuVernay will direct the film, having come aboard back in April and already working with Paul Webb on the script. DuVernay made a big splash a couple of years ago with I Will Follow, but it was last year's Indie hit Middle of Nowhere that earned her the Best Director award at Sundance, the first African-American woman to ever win it. She'll have familiar company on Selma as David Oyelowo, her star on Middle of Nowhere, is still on board to play MLK.

The story couldn't come at a more appropriate time, as it deals with the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery to secure voting rights for African-Americans. Those same rights were recently dealt a crucial blow by a recent Supreme Court decision, so a film of this nature could inflame a lot of already-boiling passions.

A start date for Selma hasn't been locked down, but the aim is to try and beat out some of the other MLK projects on the horizon, namely Paul Greengrass' Memphis, which has Forest Whitaker in the lead role.

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Paul Greengrass' Martin Luther King Jr. drama 'Memphis' moves forward

You might recall at one point Paul Greengrass(United 93) was set to write and direct Memphis, a civil rights drama focusing on the last months of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life. After failing to secure financing when Universal backed out, and also facing opposition from the MLK estate, the project flamed out and Greengrass moved on to other projects, like West of Memphis and his upcoming Somali pirates flick Captain Phillips.

But it appears the film has found new life, with Deadline reporting uber-producer Scott Rudin is back on board with Wild Bunch agreeing to back the picture and Veritas in talks to pitch in. The film is set in the spring of 1968, one of the most difficult times in King's life as he faced scrutiny over his position on the Vietnam War, and was also facing allegations of extramarital affairs. The story takes place as he's attempting to help black sanitation workers in the titular city form a protest. Juxtaposed with that story is the search for King's assassin, James Earl Ray.

The MLK estate still isn't happy with the project, in particular the depiction of some of the civil rights leader's improprieties, and they've got their own film in development at Dreamworks which will probably be a lot nicer. But I think someone like King, who inspired so many and continues to do so, deserves an honest portrayal and not a prettied up one.

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Lee Daniels and Hugh Jackman to team-up on MLK assassination film, 'Orders to Kill'

Lee Daniels and Hugh Jackman are hoping the third time might finally be the charm. The two have been trying to work together for years, first on Daniels' failed Selma biopic, and again on The Butler, with Jackman's schedule(he's shooting The Wolverine right now) proving too cramped for the latter. Now the two are set for Orders to Kill, which is a film that has controversy written all over it.


So what's the big deal about this film? Well, political types like myself who also like to dabble in conspiracy theorist corners on occasion remember that in 1999, a Memphis jury found U.S. governmental agencies to be complicit in the death of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated back in 1968. For years, theories have gone around about who killed the civil rights leader, with many claiming that convicted shooter James Earl Ray was just the fall guy. One of those who thinks this was writer William Pepper, who authored the book the film is based on. As for how that trial came to be, it was initiated after Lloyd Jowers, who owned Jim's Grill near the Memphis hotel where King was killed, came on ABC's Prime Time Live in 1993 to say that the government worked with the mafia on the assassination. The King family filed a wrongful death suit against Jowers and "unknown conspirators", for which Jowers and elements of the government were found responsible. Jowers claimed the actual shooter was police department officer Lt. Earl Clark. The mainstream media barely bothered to cover the whole court proceeding, which still boggles my mind.

So yeah, this could be the sort of film that riles up the country's interest in King's death the same way Oliver Stone's JFK did for Kennedy's. It's unclear when this will take place, as both Daniels and Jackman are hella busy right now. Also, I'm curious to see if the MLK estate will approve of this film, the way they didn't of Daniels' Selma. If I recall, Coretta Scott King was a supporter of the notion the government killed her husband, so maybe the rest of the family agrees? Hanna Weg will be adapting Peppers' book for the big screen whenever production gets underway.

It should be noted that the Department of Justice ran their own investigation into Jowers' claims and found no evidence to support it. But isn't that exactly what you'd expect them to say?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Sure Shots: The Hunger Games; Martin Luther King; Channing Tatum/Steven Soderbergh

* The District 5 Tributes have been cast in Gary Ross's adaptation of The Hunger Games. Chris Mark will play the male Tribute, another one without a name. Jacqueline Emerson will play the female Tribute, nicknamed "Foxface" by Katniss Everdeen.  Foxface is actually one of the stronger competitors in the Games.

* With Martin Luther King biopics hitting a roadblock mostly due to the lack of support from the King estate, Warner Brothers and Dreamworks have decided to pool their resources and make a joint stab at it. Dreamworks already owns the intellectual rights to the civil rights leader's story and the cooperation of the estate, while Warner Brothers has a long gestating script by Kario Salem(The Score). Now that the project is underway, Salem will be crafting a whole new script, but there's no word on who will direct. Maybe Lee Daniels(Precious), who had his own MLK film hit the skids, will get another shot?

* Steven Soderbergh is still hanging up his camera for good in a year or so, but before that he's still got a lot of work ahead of him. Haywire hits theaters in a few months, with Contagion coming out in October. Next year he's got The Man from UNCLE, and let's not forget his Liberace biopic. But before that he's taking on a surprise flick, an autobiographical tale of Channing Tatum's early life as an exotic dancer. No kidding. According to Deadline, the film will be titled Magic Mike, and will be about the title character's mentoring of a younger dancer in how to shake his groove thang, I guess. Plans are for the film to shoot around September or October.

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