Writer Found for Martin Luther King Jr. Biopic

Published by Jeff Leins on: January 20th, 2010

Just a day after the national holiday honoring the influences of Martin Luther King Jr., DreamWorks has announced a screenwriter for the first authorized biopic of his life.

With the approval of the King estate, award-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood will have access to copyrighted material such as his books, speeches, and other works that shaped a turbulent campaign for equal rights.  This includes the famous “I Have a Dream” speech and “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address delivered the day before he died in 1968.

Hardwood’s recent credits include the beautiful biopic The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 2008’s Australia, and 2002’s The Pianist, which won him an Oscar for “Best Adapted Screenplay.”  He’s also 75 years old and lived through the civil rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s led by MLK.  That might come in handy.

Steven Spielberg is producing and shows no intention of directing the biopic.  The legal battle between the King siblings was presumably settled in order for the film to move forward.

I can only hope this focuses on MLK’s passion for equality and doesn’t anoint the man as a saint like many authorized biopics typically become.  The biggest challenge is to control the scope to what he did and said at the time rather than a grandiose worship of his legacy.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter’s Risky Business Blog