Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios said on Wednesday it hoped to move forward with the first feature film about civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., which has provoked a squabble among his children.
“We remain committed to pursuing a film chronicling Martin Luther King’s life, provided that there is unity in the family so we can make a film about unity in our nation. We believe this is what Dr. King would have wanted,” said DreamWorks, the studio led by Steven Spielberg and partner Stacey Snider.
We have acquired the life rights of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, marking the first time a major biographical feature film was authorized by the King estate, said DreamWorks.
King, who pioneered efforts to deliver racial equality through civil disobedience and other non-violent means, was assassinated in April 1968 at age 39.
Dexter King, the chairman and CEO of King Inc, which controls intellectual property rights to the 1960s leader, said he hoped the movie would “be the definitive film” on his father’s legacy. Casting for the part of King has not been announced.
But John Steel, a lawyer for King’s daughter, Bernice, and son, Martin Luther King III, said they had not been notified about the film until the deal was announced on Tuesday.
Steven Spielberg directs King Martin Luther Jr
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