After making two of the most successful films in the Bourne franchise, then scoring a Best Director Oscar nomination for the harrowing United 93, Paul Greengrass seemed capable of doing just about anything, the rare director who had the commercial clout and critical acclaim to get a movie made on his name alone. Then came Green Zone, a financial flop, and the end of plans to make a fourth Bourne, and with that Greengrass's momentum seemed to have slowed considerably.
He got back to work recently on Captain Phillips, a drama starring Tom Hanks based on the real-life capture of an American shipping vessel by Somali pirates, and now he seems to have regained enough momentum to bring back a project that seemed dead. According to Deadline Greengrass and producer Scott Rudin are once again putting together Memphis, a drama about the final days of Martin Luther King, Jr. They had attempted to make the film back in 2011, but pulled the plug when financing became too difficult. Now Greengrass believes it will be his next film.
The movie won't just be an emotional recounting of the death of an icon, though-- the story will jump between King's efforts to organize a protest march on behalf of striking sanitation workers as well as the manhunt to catch his killer, James Earl Ray. There's no word yet on who might play King, but if the project indeed comes together, that will be one hell of a coveted role for every actor even vaguely within the right age range. From Deadline's reporting it seems there's no guarantee that Memphis will get off the ground this time, but just to see a director as talented as Greengrass putting together so many next projects is reason enough to be excited.
