AceShowbiz -

Award-winning Forest Whitaker might land a high-profile role in Paul Greengrass' upcoming film. The Idi Amin of 2006's "The Last King of Scotland" is in negotiations to come aboard "Memphis". The 51-year-old actor is offered to take on the role of charismatic leader Martin Luther King Jr.

As reported by The Wrap, the biopic centers on the final days of the notable figure as he struggles to balance his personal life and the civil rights movement while he organizes a protest march in Memphis, Tennessee, where it apparently will be the last protest march for him as he's shot dead by James Earl Ray. The FBI then leads an intense manhunt for the assassin.

Abu Dhabi-based Veritas Films and French financier Wild Bunch come aboard to finance the ambitious project, which has been developed since 2012. Scott Rudin is secured to produce the movie. No start date has been set yet.

Whitaker has recently headed to Cannes for the premiere of "Zulu", Jerome Salle-directed crime thriller film which features him as a Cape Town cop named Ali Sokhela, and also stars Orlando Bloom as his partner.

Whitaker will next be seen in star-studded drama "The Butler, which is set to open nationwide on October 18.