Chris Rock set to direct Steven Spielberg executive produced Martin Luther King Jr. biopic
Chris Rock will direct a new Martin Luther King Jr. biopic from Universal Pictures with Steven Spielberg at the helm as an executive producer.
The biopic will be an adaptation of King: A Life, the best-selling biography of King written by Jonathan Eig. The film is also set to allegedly boast Universal’s Senior Vice President of Production Development, Ryan Jones.
According to a report by Deadline, Rock is “in final talks to direct and produce,” with producer credits also including Amblin Partners and Kristie Macosko Krieger.
Earlier this year, Rock dropped his new series Selective Outrage, a special that claimed to be the “first ever global live event”.
This also followed his public spat with Will Smith at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2022, a stunt that saw the comic having to pursue therapy.
Leslie Jones, a lifelong friend of Rock, said at the time: “That shit was humiliating. It really affected him. People need to understand his daughters; his parents saw that. He had to go to counselling with his daughters.”
Adding: “Chris Rock did a fucking joke. I know Will, too… I was like, you couldn’t handle that shit afterwards. This is the Oscars. The whole world is watching.”
The exact release date for the new Martin Luther King Jr. film has not yet been confirmed.
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