According to Deadline a deal has been struck between Universal and Paul Greengrass to make a biopic about the events leading up to and including the assassination of Martin Luther King, a project called Memphis. This is catapulted ahead of many mooted King biopics ranging from films set up by Steven Spielberg and Lee Daniels to a Oprah Winfrey produced miniseries for HBO.
Greengrass and his team have closed the deal first meaning this will probably be the first theatrical feature about King’s life. And no one is suited to this better than Greengrass, his handling of politics specific to America and in general is top notch, from work on United 93 and Green Zone to the earlier days of Bloody Sunday. He is the right kind of filmmaker to be making this film. Greengrass will be writing and directing with production rumoured to start in June.
