More Film Deals: Paul Greengrass Eyes MLK

COMMENTS (7)

• Can we just make it easy and do a Paris, Je T’Aime type project, where we get the same actor to play MLK, and each director does a different period, or stance, on his life. That would rock. Like a 6 hr epic. Or how about bring in Todd Haynes and just do a follow up to I’M NOT THERE and have 6 different actors play MLK.

  These are all better ideas than having 4 or 5 competing projects that are all going to cancel each other out.

  Comment by let's get together — Thursday January 13, 2011 @ 4:13pm PST  Reply to this post

• Oh this is wonderful. Another MLK project written by a white writer. And Paul is so qualified to do this American icon in his “down and dirty” fashion. He should get one of Wayans Brothers to play King. That’s about how good the quality of this piece of shit will be.

  Comment by honest abe — Thursday January 13, 2011 @ 7:07pm PST  Reply to this post

• honest abe, just keep your ignorance to yourself. Greengrass did a brilliant job of depicting the conflict between activism and authority in ‘Bloody Sunday.’ He would do the same with MLK. I would prefer his perspective to a hagiographic biopic any day.

  Comment by NYC — Thursday January 13, 2011 @ 9:38pm PST  Reply to this post

• The fact that you think an MLK script cannot be written by a white guy renders you a fucking moron. So I guess in the future, only blacks should write about Obama and Oprah.

  Get real….

  Comment by Anonymous — Friday January 14, 2011 @ 12:52am PST  Reply to this post

• They better show the complete picture of MLK. Including his treatment of women, his communist ties and racist ways.

  Comment by Bridges — Friday January 14, 2011 @ 9:01am PST  Reply to this post

• Why all the hate? To render the civil rights struggle, an artist should, at the minimum, have had some organic connection to it. The brave people who died delivering freedom to black people in this country deserve that, at the minimum. Taylor Branch, a white writer, did a brilliant job writing about the struggle. He spent 25 years of his life writing about it. He was invested.

  The problem with not only Paul but the Selma project as well is that no one involved is invested–not by previous work or academic background.

  Have enough respect for the people involved who are still living to at least interview them. Wouldn’t that be nice?

  Whenever I hear about one of these projects, I call some of the major people who marched with King and ask, “Did anyone call you, interview you?” The answer is always, no.

  As far as the plight of black writers, it’s clear that black writers are not hired to even write black projects, not major ones. Every single King project is being written by white writers. As I’ve said before, if I’m a producer doing the Gloria Steinhem project, the first place I go is to a woman writer. It may not work out. So be it, but that’s the first place I go.

  If I’m doing Queen Victoria, or Churchill, the first place I go is to a British writer. Again, it may not work out, but at I’m going to try to find one.

  Why? Because one thinks that those writers might have some extra insight into those characters.

  So, a Brit wrote Selma (didn’t interview anyone who marched with King), hired by British producers, and they bring in Lee Daniels, to give themselves cover (although their first choice was Haggis).

  Paul is a brilliant director/writer. Do we need yet another white man’s interpretation of this black icon?

  Black writers in Hollywood either work for Tyler Perry, or don’t work, with rare exception. It’s not right.

  So save the hate.

  Comment by Honest Abe — Friday January 14, 2011 @ 10:39am PST  Reply to this post

• A screenplay on the killing of Martin Luther King was written a while ago by William Sacks. Zev Braun was involved with Turner, till Turner turned it down because of the government, saying that they didn’t want it on the air. Its a great screenplay and a documented project.
  This should be viewed.

  Comment by Arnold Soloway — Saturday January 15, 2011 @ 2:02pm PST  Reply to this post