At long last, a Martin Luther King jr. biopic is in the (Dream)Works

It has been years in the works, but there will finally be a major Hollywood production of the life and times of the late great Civil Rights pioneer and activist, Martin Luther King jr. According to Variety, DreamWorks have finally secured the rights to make a film about King’s life. Steven Spielberg will produce the film, no details regarding the cast or a director/writer have been announced yet.

In press comments, Spielberg said “We are all honored that the King Estate is giving us the opportunity to tell the story of these defining, historic events. It is our hope that the creative power of film and the impact of Dr. King’s life can combine to present a story of undeniable power that we can all be proud of.” A King biopic has been a personal priority for Spielberg for many years, and he has been working with DreamWorks CEO and co-chairman Stacey Snider for quite some time to try and secure the full rights.

Martin Luther King jr. was the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize , awarded to him for his work to end racial segregation and discrimination. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and then the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Please head over to Wikipedia for a very detailed bio of King’s life and work.

We are delighted to hear that the film is in the hands of Spielberg, who has obviously had a great desire to make the film for quite some time. We’ll throw our hats into the ring to nominate Chiwetel Ejiofor as our choice to play MLK - Ejiofor has Oscar Winner written all over him - and he has blown us away with his wide range of talent in films such as “Dirty Pretty Things” (his best performance to date), “Red Dust”, “Kinky Boots”, “Talk to Me” and most recently “Endgame” in which played President Thabo Mbeki.