Oliver Stone quits Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic

Oliver Stone will no longer direct a planned biopic about civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. due to creative differences. The controversial filmmaker had been tapped to take charge of the DreamWorks/Warner Bros. production, which is expected to document the activist’s life from his days as a preacher in Atlanta, Georgia, to his rise as a non-violent civil rights leader and his 1968 assassination, but he has since parted ways with producers.
Breaking the news to fans on Twitter.com on Friday (17Jan14), he writes, “Sad news. My MLK project involvement has ended. I did an extensive rewrite of the script, but the producers won’t go with it.
“The script dealt w/ (with) issues of adultery, conflicts within the movement, and King’s spiritual transformation into a higher, more radical being. I’m told the estate & the ‘respectable’ black community that guard King’s reputation won’t approve it. They suffocate the man & the truth.”
Representatives for the movie studios have yet to comment on Stone’s exit, which was announced ahead of Monday’s U.S. bank holiday in honour of King, Jr.
The activist’s children Dexter, Bernice and Martin Luther King III will all serve as producers for the film, alongside DreamWorks Studios’ Steven Spielberg.
Jamie Foxx was last linked to tackle the lead role in October (13), but it is not yet known if he is still involved.