'The Wire' Writer David Simon to Lead Martin Luther King Miniseries for HBO

After years of Martin Luther King projects falling by the wayside due to one reason or another, suddenly there are a handful that are moving all at once. Paul Greengrass is still putting together Memphis, and there's another that once had Oliver Stone in the director's chair. Last week Oprah Winfrey put her producing power behind Selma, which has Ava Duvernay attached to direct. But Oprah has another MLK project brewing with HBO, and she's just landed one of the network's heavy-hitters to lead it.

Deadline reports that David Simon, the big brain behind The Wire, Homicide: Life On the Street, and Treme, will "spearhead" a six-hour miniseries for HBO, which Oprah is producing. The series will chronicle King's entire life and most important relationships, based on the acclaimed book trilogy America: In the King Years by author Taylor Branch. Simon will write the first episode and oversee the entire project with Treme co-creator Eric Overmyer.

Exciting? Definitely. This is immediately one of those watershed series that HBO seems to come up with more than the average network, and now it'll be interesting to see who gets cast in the lead role. Perhaps Oprah can lure in David Oyelowo, who has been connected to the role of King in Duvernay's film? Or perhaps Simon will turn to one of his old TV regulars, like Idris Elba?