Chris Rock To Direct MLK Biopic ‘King: A Life’ Biopic With Steven Spielberg Executive Producing

Chris Rock is reported to be in final talks to direct and produce what is being called a “definitive cinematic biopic” about Martin Luther King, Jr. for Universal Pictures, according to Deadline.

The film will be based on Jonathan Eig’s biography of the civil rights leader, King: A Life. Steven Spielberg will executive produce, with Amblin partners producing. Kristie Macosko Krieger will produce with Rock.

King: A Life is seen by many as the definitive account of King’s life thanks to its use of newly declassified information the FBI collected on King and other previously unused sources. Like the book, the film is expected to show King struggling with his human faults and threats from the government while being a larger-than-life hero.

Rock co-stars in the George C. Wolfe-directed Rustin, which stars Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin, the man who organized the 1963 march on Washington, where Dr. King made his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech that galvanized the battle to desegregate the South. In Rustin, Rock plays the pivotal role of Roy Wilkins, the NAACP leader who reluctantly embraced Rustin’s efforts and made the march possible. Higher Ground produced that film for Netflix.

This is a big step up for Rock in the director’s chair, but he stamped himself as a director with chops with Top Five, which he also wrote and which became the biggest deal at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival, where Paramount Pictures bought world rights. Rock also directed Head of State, and I Think I Love My Wife.

Rock is a four-time Emmy award winner, three-time Grammy winner, and bestselling author. He is atop the game as a stand-up comedian and made some history on March 4th with his Netflix standup special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the first to be done in a global live-streaming event. His animated series Everybody Still Hates Chris is set to stream globally on Paramount + and Comedy Central, with Rock as its EP and narrator.

There have been several depictions of King on screen, with one of the most popular being David Oyelowo‘s turn as the leader in Ava DuVernay’s Selma. While it’s still unknown as to who will play King in this film, it is clear that all eyes will be on the film’s development given the weight of the subject matter, the book’s reputation, and the names behind it.