We know that despite his involvement in the Bourne franchise producing two of the finest thrillers of recent years, that franchise will, at least for the time being, now continue without him. That of course leaves him with time for other projects, such as Cleopatra, or instead perhaps a thriller about the events leading up to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Reports state that Greengrass has written a script, titled “Memphis”, based upon his own research and that it will focus on King’s life during the early part of 1968, leading up to his assassination on April 4th. The suggestion is, via Vulture, that since King’s life was in considerable disarray in early 1968, the resulting script and film will provide a much more personal portrayal than previously expected. Apparently, moving into spring 1968 King was putting on weight, his marriage was deteriorating, he was boozing and chain-smoking and his opposition to the Vietnam War had cost him his previously good relationship with President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Producer Scott Rudin may well produce the film with Greengrass, though at the present time that remains an unconfirmed rumour. There are almost as many conspiracy theories regarding MLK’s death as that of JFK, so it will be interesting to see where Greengrass takes this. Given his history as a film-maker, at the very least we can safely assume his take on MLK will not be dull.
