Pages

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Trio Join March To "Selma"

Rapper/actor Common and Andre Holland are set to join the long gestating historical drama "Selma" says Deadline.


The film follows Martin Luther King Jr‘s (David Oyelowo) historic voting rights campaign that occurred at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

Common will play prominent civil rights activist James Bevel, Holland plays Andrew Young a close confidante of MLK.


Tessa Thompson has been cast as Diane Nash, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and who also played a key role in bringing King to Montgomery, AL, in support of the Freedom Riders.

Carmen Ejogo is tipped to play MLK's wife Coretta Scott King  who married on June 18, 1953--she was also an influential activist during the African-American civil rights movement in the 1960s. She marched with her husband during the Selma Voting Rights Movement.

 Tom Wilkinson is eyed to play President Lyndon B. Johnson who gave an eloquent speech about voting rights one week after deadly racial violence erupted in Alabama.

 "Middle of Nowhere" helmer  Ava DuVernay will direct the film using a script that she tweaked   with screenwriter Paul Webb.

Oprah Winfrey Brad Pitt Dede Gardner Jeremy Kleiner, Christian Coulson and Cameron McCracken. are producing the project.

At one time Lee Daniels was attached to direct the project a few years ago with Oyelowo, Hugh Jackman, Liam Neeson, Ray Winstone, Robert De Niro and Cedric the Entertainer poised to star.  Funding was never fully secured and that version of movie just fell apart.

No comments:

Post a Comment