{"id":63681,"date":"2012-07-31T23:35:03","date_gmt":"2012-07-31T23:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2012\/07\/31\/lee-daniels-hugh-jackman-mlk-film-orders-to-kill\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T10:44:58","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T10:44:58","slug":"lee-daniels-hugh-jackman-mlk-film-orders-to-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/lee-daniels-hugh-jackman-mlk-film-orders-to-kill\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Daniels, Hugh Jackman Will Finally Do MLK Film, But With Different Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lee Daniels, Hugh Jackman Will Finally Do MLK Film, But With Different Story<\/strong>Posted by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

July 31, 2012<\/p>\n

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After failing to get the MLK film, Selma<\/strong>, off the ground two years ago, both director Lee Daniels<\/strong> and Hugh Jackson<\/strong> are set to tackle MLK’s life with a different story in ‘Orders to Kill<\/strong>,’ reports The LA Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The film will explore the Martin Luther King Jr.<\/strong> assassination with a new film that takes an unconventional view of King’s murder.<\/p>\n

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This is a story that aims to tell an alternative version of the King shooting, according to a person familiar with the project who was not authorized to talk about it publicly. Millennium Films will produce and finance the film, which is currently being shopped around to distributors in Hollywood. A Millennium spokeswoman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The film will tell the story of William Pepper<\/strong> (Jackman), a controversial attorney and activist who for decades has argued that convicted killer James Earl Ray, who recanted his confession and died arguing his innocence, didn’t shoot MLK.<\/p>\n

The picture will follow Pepper over the years as he wages a one-man campaign, interviewing witnesses and building support for his theory that other interests, including those from the U.S. government, were behind the 1968 Memphis killing. (In a nutshell, Pepper, who is still alive, argues that government interests wanted King dead because of his opposition to the Vietnam War.) It will be based on Pepper’s own book, which has been adapted for the screen by Hollywood screenwriter Hanna Weg.<\/p>\n

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The movie has echoes of “JFK,” Oliver Stone’s film from 20 years ago that also argued for a broad conspiracy behind the assassination of a 1960s icon. Though controversial, the film was a huge hit and won two Oscars.<\/p>\n

Ray has long been viewed as the killer by authorities and much of the public, though Pepper has the support of Martin Luther King Jr.’s son Dexter King<\/strong>, who came to believe the bullet was fired by a Memphis police officer. A 1999 wrongful-death lawsuit against a man and unknown co-conspirators filed by the Kings and argued by Pepper found in favor of the plaintiff. The trial will be the climactic section of the film, according to the person familiar with the project.<\/p>\n

“Orders” is a second chance of sorts for Daniels and Jackman, who in 2010 got together for the development project “Selma,” about the famous Alabama civil-rights march led by Martin Luther King Jr. In that project, Jackman was to play a racist sheriff who led the charge against King. The film was scrapped after it hit financing troubles.<\/p>\n

Daniels, most famous for his Oscar-winning “Precious<\/strong>” from 2009 (also produced by Millennium), recently made a period murder mystery, the polarizing pic “The Paperboy<\/strong>,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. He’s going historical with the upcoming “The Butler<\/strong>,” about a man who served more than a half-dozen presidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrders\u201d would continue a turn to period pieces for Jackman, who will be seen in this December’s “Les Miserables.”<\/p>\n

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