Jamie Foxx is a front-runner for an upcoming role as famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. According to several reports, a biopic for King is currently in the early stages of development, but has been in the planning stages for a long time. The film, while long-delayed, recently signed Oliver Stone to direct.
Involved in the films production are Steven Spielberg’s film company, Dreamworks, and movie studio Warner Bros.
Oliver Stone and Jamie Foxx have worked together in the past on football film Any Given Sunday. Stone, in the meantime, has a history with historical biopics, having directed JFK and W.
New interest in the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic has ramped up with the 50th anniversary of his historic March on Washington speech.
There are already two flicks based around King’s life, Selma, about another key protest led by King, and Memphis, a biopic about King’s final days, which was scripted by Paul Greengrass.
Jamie Foxx is no stranger to biopics; his turn as Ray Charles in the 2004 film, Ray, earned him critical and mass audience praise. Foxx has also proven himself to be a versatile actor. Recently, he played a free slave in Django Unchained, and the president of the United States in White House Down. Currently, Foxx is filming a reboot of the musical Annie. The Martin Luther King Jr.script was written by Kario Salem with King’s family lending support for the project.
In 2009, Dreamworks acquired the rights to King’s story and his “I Have A Dream” speech. Do you think Jamie Foxx is the right choice to play Martin Luther King Jr. in the new biopic?
