Martin Luther King Jr. bio set for bigscreen

[babylonsister]

Martin Luther King Jr. bio set for bigscreen
Spielberg will produce DreamWorks pic
By TATIANA SIEGEL


DreamWorks has acquired the life rights to Martin Luther King Jr. and is bringing a biopic on the slain civil rights leader to the bigscreen.

Steven Spielberg, Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones will produce.

King, who was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis at the age of 39, copyrighted his speeches, books and famous works during his lifetime. The DreamWorks project marks the first film to be authorized by King's estate and gives the producers the right to utilize King's intellectual property -- including his famous "I Have a Dream" speech delivered during the 1963 March on Washington -- to create the definitive portrait of his life.

"We are all honored that the King Estate is giving us the opportunity to tell the story of these defining, historic events," Spielberg said. "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 film has been a longtime dream for Spielberg and DreamWorks CEO and co-chairman Stacey Snider, who has been working feverishly on acquiring the rights since exiting Paramount Pictures and setting up a solo enterprise.

more...

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003915.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

[HamdenRice]

1. This doesn't sound good. Spielberg has a perverse take on most historical pics

I think he's an immensely talented director, but I find all his historical pics to be a bit weird.

"Color Purple" depicted a "poor" family living in a farm house that in the rural south would have been considered a house for the super rich (at least my experience of 1960s rural south).

Private Ryan -- great effects, but the story degenerated into a cliche about a group of stereotypes, the sort of WWII movie that has been made since, well WWII.

Schindler -- amazing premise, but veered off into perverse view of the victims.

Ugghh. He's not the guy to make this film.

[babylonsister]

3. And I liked all those movies-go figure. But I'm not a critic.

Specifically, what was the perverse view of the victims in Schindler's List?

[HamdenRice]

7. I actually couldn't watch Schindler's List

partly out of boredom in the middle section, but I was getting this weird vibe that Spielberg was suggesting that the victims were too passive. Maybe it was my imagination. I was just getting an icky feeling about his portrayal of the victims.

Also, I thought that the greatest holocaust film ever made was the documentary Shoah, and I feel it set the standard so high, it's difficult to accept anything else.

There are two historical Spielberg films that I think are great, but are critically under-rated -- "Empire of the Sun" and "Munich."

As for Color Purple, my grandparents were tobacco farmers in rural Virginia. They were considered better off than most farmers. But to them, the house in Color Purple would have been a mansion for rich white people. I had read the Alice Walker novel, and as soon as I saw the setting, it was like, "what the hell was Spielberg thinking." Hadn't he seen "Sounder"? That would give him some clue about what life was like.

Here's a pic of my mother goofing around with a gun in front of my grandparents' "old house" (it was abandoned before I was born), but is the kind of house that the characters in Color Purple might actually have lived in:

[LeftinOH]

2. Maybe Speilberg will produce- but not be the director. In any case, some cast suggestions:

Jeffrey Wright - as MLK

Thandie Newton -as CSK

[HamdenRice]

8. I made an idiot of myself in front of Jeffrey Wright on election night

I was hanging out with my sister at a politically active bar in Brooklyn called Moe's.

This guy next to me kept calling the bartender/owner with this booming voice. I turned to him and said, "I'm sure you hear this all the time, but you look so much like the actor, Jeffrey Wright."

He said, "yeah I hear that a lot. I also heard he's a really nice guy."

Later, I asked the bartender about him, and he said, "That WAS Jeffrey Wright. He's a regular here."

[CatWoman]

4. and I heard on the news this morning

that his kids are suing already :eyes:

[babylonsister]

5. This family seems to fight an awful lot.

That's a shame. I'd love to see a well-done bio of MLK.

[CatWoman]

6. It always seems to be Dexter versus Martin III and Bernice

:shrug: