Chris Rock is in final negotiations to direct and produce a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic for Universal based on Jonathan Eig’s 2023 biography “King: A Life,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Eig’s critically acclaimed book is based on the recent release of FBI documents, letters, oral histories and other material, along with White House telephone transcripts, the New York Times noted.
Eig’s publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, described the book as an “intimate portrayal of King as a courageous but emotionally troubled individual who demanded peaceful protest while grappling with his own frailties and a government that hunted him.”
Steven Spielberg will be the executive producer via his Amblin Partners, with Kristie Macosko Krieger also producing, THR noted.
A Martin Luther King Jr biopic is in the works with Chris Rock set to direct.
(Source: Deadline) pic.twitter.com/LbHVz7in1F
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 5, 2023
There is no word yet on what actors/actresses will potentially make up the cast for the upcoming movie.
The “Grown Ups” star is not new to the directing role. He previously directed and starred in the Toronto International Film Festival favorite “Top Five” in 2014.
In 2007, he directed the romantic comedy “I Think I Love My Wife” in which he starred alongside Gina Torres and Kerry Washington. Four years earlier, he directed, wrote and starred in the political comedy “Head of State” alongside the late-comedian Bernie Mac.
Earlier this year, he appeared on the big screen in George C. Wolfe’s civil rights biopic “Rustin,” starring Colman Domingo, the outlet noted.
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In March, Rock kicked off a live stand-up comedy special titled “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” in which he unleashed jokes directed at actor Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, that dealt with the now-infamous slap he received from Smith during the his presentation at the Academy Awards in 2022.
In the special, he said Smith exhibited “selective outrage” when he slapped him at the Oscars.
“Will Smith practices selective outrage because everyone that knows what happened, everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that s***,” Rock shared. “I didn’t have any entanglements. His wife was f***** her son’s friend.”