Oliver Stone has parted ways with Warner Bros and Dreamworks and will no longer be working on his planned Martin Luther King biopic.
The writer/director revealed the news via his own Twitter feed, saying “my MLK project involvement has ended. I did an extensive rewrite of the script, but the producers won’t go with it.”
Subsequent tweets offered more insight into his departure, blaming a clash of ideas as to what areas of Martin Luther King’s life the biopic should explore:
The script dealt w/ issues of adultery, conflicts within the movement, and King’s spiritual transformation into a higher, more radical being January 17, 2014
I’m told the estate & the ‘respectable’ black community that guard King’s reputation won't approve it. They suffocate the man & the truth. January 17, 2014
I wish you could see the film I would've made. I fear if ‘they’ ever make it, it’ll be just another commemoration of the March on Washington January 17, 2014
Martin, I grieve for you. You are still a great inspiration for your fellow Americans—but, thank God, not a saint. January 17, 2014
Given Stone’s history with controversial biopics, perhaps it should come as no surprise that he was approaching the film in a different light than the studios wanted.
However, the biopic will no doubt still go ahead as planned once the Warner Bros and Dreamworks find a replacement.
