
Timely news comes on the heels of Martin Luther King Jr. Day: DreamWorks has tapped a screenwriter for its biopic about the civil rights leader.
Ronald Harwood, who won an Oscar for penning Roman Polanski's Holocaust drama
The Pianist, will handle the task of adapting MLK's life once again for the screen, this time with the authorization of
part of the King Estate. While other films and miniseries about or involving the Reverend Doctor have been made in the past, none have been approved by any members of his family or had access to his intellectual property (such as the "I Have a Dream" speech). This as yet untitled biopic will also be a bigger deal than past efforts due to the fact
it's being produced by Steven Spielberg.
Harwood is also a pretty significant player. In addition to winning an Academy Award, he's been nominated for his scripts for
The Dresser and
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Other films he's written include
Australia,
The Browning Version and Polanski's film of
Oliver Twist. He also has experience with civil rights subject matter. A native of South Africa, Harwood wrote the adaptation for the apartheid drama
Cry, the Beloved Country and the made-for-TV biopic
Mandela, starring Danny Glover as the anti-apartheid activist (and South African president-to-be). He's also covered the apartheid subject in novels and plays.