Tuesday, May 03, 2011

THR: Dream Works and Warner Brothers Unite to Produce Movie on Life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

DreamWorks & Warner Bros Unite for Martin Luther King Jr. Movie

April 29, 2011
Source: THR
by Ethan Anderton

Almost a year ago we heard about DreamWorks developing a biopic on famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. However, since then there hasn't been much progress at least that we've known about. Meanwhile, Warner Bros was also quietly developing their own film about the historical figure. Now THR reports the two studios will join forces to work on one singular film about King. Apparently WB had been working on their project for years and writer Kario Salem (The Score) had been researching and writing the script for nearly four years. Now he's also being brought on board for this project between the two studios.

The union is perfect, because while WB had this long-developing script, DreamWorks had already acquired the life rights to King in May of 2009, the cooperation of the King estate, and access to King's intellectual property including the famous "I Have a Dream" speech we all learned in school. Originally Steven Spielberg was producing by way of DreamWorks, but now only Sam Nappi, Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones will be producing. With Paul Greengrass' Memphis stalled for at least a year, and Lee Daniels' Selma not going anywhere soon, this could be the most promising film about the civil rights leader in these next few years.

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