Forest Whitaker In Talks For Martin Luther King

Forest Whitaker, soon to be seen in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, has entered talks to play Martin Luther King for Paul Greengrass’ long-gestating project Memphis.  The film, which Greengrass also wrote, follows the build up to King’s assassination when he came to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers.  The film lost funding from Universal back in 2011 in part due to the family of King not being happy that Greengrass plans to include King struggling with the pressures of his life and giving in to infidelity.  The film will also look closely at the hunt and eventual capture of King’s killer James Earl Ray.  Whitaker is no stranger to playing historical figures having won an Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland.  Greengrass is planning on shooting the film in the cinema-vérité style of United 93 and will make it his next project having recently finished work on his Tom Hanks Somali pirate drama Captain Phillips.  Before that Whitaker will be seen in Out Of The Furnace opposite Christian Bale and then head over to Black Nativity with Angela Bassett.  Source – The Wrap