Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #16. Ava DuVernay’s Selma

Selma

Director: Ava DuVernay
Writers: Ava DuVernay, Paul Webb
Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Brad Pitt
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: David Oyelowo

In July of 2013, it was announced that Lee Daniels would not be moving forward with his MLK biopic, Selma, and a high profile supporting cast has since went on to graze other projects. But when one door closes, another opens, and perhaps the only feasible option more exciting than Daniels at the helm was the news that Ava DuVernay would be taking on director duty, and retaining David Oyelowo as MLK. DuVernay, who was the first black woman to win Best Director at Sundance in 2012 for the superb Middle of Nowhere (which also starred Oyelowo), will undoubtedly imbue the weighty subject matter from her scintillating perspective, marking it as one of the most exciting projects to look forward to in the coming year or so. No word yet on whether she will seek a return collaboration with cinematographer Bradford Young, but we’d be surprised not to see her usual editor Spencer Averick also along for the ride.

Gist: A biopic on Martin Luther King, Jr., which centers on the 1965 voting rights efforts set in what was known as the epicenter as the Civil Rights Movement.

Release Date: As the film moves into pre-production, we’re banking on a relatively modest shoot, and if all goes well in post, perhaps it will be an entry in the fall fest circuit.

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