Oliver Stone leaves Martin Luther King biopic
The director with studio clashes over content
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.
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