ARTICLE: MLK Biopic - A Dream Deferred from EW
Fascinating blurb from the 4.15.11 issue of Entertainment weekly...
NEWS + NOTES
Dream Deferred: The Fight for an MLK Biopic
Why's it so hard to make a movie about Martin Luther King Jr.?
By Anthony Breznican, Josh Rottenberg | Apr 08, 2011
It has all the ingredients of an epic film: conflict, hope, suspense, tragedy. At its heart is a complex and charismatic leader who rose from obscurity, stirred the conscience of a nation, and helped change the course of history, only to be killed by an assassin's bullet. You'd think that Hollywood would be falling all over itself to bring Martin Luther King Jr.'s life to the screen. But if you've been hoping to see King's story in theaters everywhere, your dream has been denied for more than four decades. ''It's very difficult to get King's story on screen,'' says Taylor Branch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the America in the King Years trilogy. ''I've been trying for almost 25 years.''
In recent months, two high-profile King film projects have derailed. Last week, Universal announced it was dropping plans to make Memphis, a dramatization of the last days of King's life that was to be directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum). Associates of King and his family, including former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young, had begun voicing objections to the project, though Universal said it was pulling out because of production deadline issues.
Last summer, another King film, Selma, from Precious director Lee Daniels, was put on indefinite hold when the filmmaker failed to raise enough funds. ''It's really difficult to do a piece on this man, who is a hero not only to African-Americans but to the world,'' Daniels says. ''He's as close to Jesus Christ as possible for African-Americans, so you walk a fine line of servicing a story and keeping with his legacy.''
Right now, the best hope for a King biopic stands with...
Read the whole article at EW here.
NEWS + NOTES
Dream Deferred: The Fight for an MLK Biopic
Why's it so hard to make a movie about Martin Luther King Jr.?
By Anthony Breznican, Josh Rottenberg | Apr 08, 2011
It has all the ingredients of an epic film: conflict, hope, suspense, tragedy. At its heart is a complex and charismatic leader who rose from obscurity, stirred the conscience of a nation, and helped change the course of history, only to be killed by an assassin's bullet. You'd think that Hollywood would be falling all over itself to bring Martin Luther King Jr.'s life to the screen. But if you've been hoping to see King's story in theaters everywhere, your dream has been denied for more than four decades. ''It's very difficult to get King's story on screen,'' says Taylor Branch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the America in the King Years trilogy. ''I've been trying for almost 25 years.''
In recent months, two high-profile King film projects have derailed. Last week, Universal announced it was dropping plans to make Memphis, a dramatization of the last days of King's life that was to be directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum). Associates of King and his family, including former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young, had begun voicing objections to the project, though Universal said it was pulling out because of production deadline issues.
Last summer, another King film, Selma, from Precious director Lee Daniels, was put on indefinite hold when the filmmaker failed to raise enough funds. ''It's really difficult to do a piece on this man, who is a hero not only to African-Americans but to the world,'' Daniels says. ''He's as close to Jesus Christ as possible for African-Americans, so you walk a fine line of servicing a story and keeping with his legacy.''
Right now, the best hope for a King biopic stands with...
Read the whole article at EW here.
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