Actor and comedian, Chris Rock, and one of the all-time great feature directors, Steven Spielberg, are collaborating on a film based on the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
Spielberg will serve as one of the film’s executive producers, while Rock is in final talks to helm the biopic. Universal Pictures will bankroll the project.
The film will take inspiration from Jonathan Eig’s biography, “King: A Life”. This book has been declared a near-perfect biography of Martin Luther King Jr. It portrays the late civil rights hero as a “courageous but emotionally troubled individual who demanded peaceful protest”. In addition, the book treasures hundreds of interviews and new FBI information about King Jr.
The biopic has no actor attached to it yet as it is in the early stages of development. Amblin Partners will serve as the film’s primary production house, with Spielberg serving as EP and Kristie Macosko Krieger serving as the producer.
The Martin Luther King biopic will be Chris Rock’s fourth directional project after Head of State (2003), I Think I Love My Wife (2007), and Top Five (2014). Rock will also appear in George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, starring Colman Domingo. Stay tuned for more updates.