Deadline reports that Anthony Mackie will play Martin Luther King Jr., in new HBO adaptation of Robert Schenkkan’s 2012 Tony award-winning play, All The Way. Much like the play, HBO’s adaptation will focus on the life of Lyndon B. Johnson prior to and during his first year of presidency. It will also hone in on his role of passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Mackie who has had a successful career in his own right, has played in movies such as Million Dollar Baby, Hurtlocker, American Violet, Notorious, and Repentance. The film is said to show more of the liaison between King and Johnson, versus what was shown in Ava DuVernay’s Selma.
Deadline reporter Mike Fleming Jr. states, “I’m told that Mackie’s role in the script will be significant, and portrays a far more collaborative and complex relationship than was depicted in the Best Picture nominee Selma. That film’s Oscar chances were hobbled by a depiction of LBJ as a reluctant lackey who stubbornly opposed MLK’s historic march in Selma, drawing ire from LBJ’s confidantes who said he and MLK were in lockstep in manipulating a crisis to pass the historic Civil Rights law.”
All The Way will star hit show Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston as President Lyndon B. Johnson. Cranston also obtained the role in the original play as well. Jay Roach will head the HBO project as their film director. It is also confirmed the Steven Spielberg will executive produce the piece.
Mackie who has had an acting career more so of longevity will also be featured in a plethora of upcoming films. Deadline reports, “It [All The Way] caps a breakout period for Mackie, who is at work reprising his role as Falcon in Captain America: Civil War, and he has wrapped the Jonathan Levine-directed comedy Xmas, opposite Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt; the drama Shelter opposite Jennifer Connelly; and the Sandra Bullock-starrer Our Brand Is Crisis. Mackie is ready to step into another Black icon’s shoes when he stars in the Jesse Owens biopic scripted by George Olson for Relativity (Mackie is producing with Jamie Linden and Jason Spire), as well as the Paramount comedy Make A Wish. He’s repped by UTA and Inspire Entertainment.”
Production for All The Way will start until September.
