So, in the spirit of all those words I just said, Warner Bros and DreamWorks decided to team up on one MLK movie, rather than make two separate biopics – presumably one for white people and one for black people. The new version will bring together DreamWorks, who acquired King’s life rights in 2009, with writer Kario Salem (“The Score”), who was scripting an MLK movie for Warner Bros. The studios agreed the film will be a 50/50 joint venture.

There are many producers, including Suzanne de Passe, Madison Jones, Sam Nappi, and the Kings Dexter, Bernice and Martin Luther III. (Hollywood Reporter)

With filming to begin in June, one can safely pencil this one in as an Oscar nominee come January 2013. In the nearer term, expect rampant anticipation on who will land the possibly star-making or award-winning role of Martin Luther King. I wish we could rule James Franco out for this role, but he’s simply proved me wrong too many times before.

Greengrass has also been closely linked with the super-ultra-mega-tentpole release Cleopatra, but no news has surfaced in months, so it would appear that whichever way that decision goes, Memphis will get priority.

The juggernauts that are Paul Greengrass and Universal Studios should kill many of the other MLK projects that were rumored or in pre-production, namely, the Dreamworks and Lee Daniels-led Selma, which was circling the drain even before this news came about.