Rodney King
Rodney King

Morgan Freeman is putting on his producer hat to bring Rodney King’s life to the screen via a limited TV series that will be developed via his Revelations Entertainment shingle.

The project will explore King using newly discovered, never-before-seen home video footage that the man himself filmed over a 12-year period of his life. Revelation, in partnership with director Sheldon Wilson, acquired the rights to footage which is over 20 hours long in total, leading up to his death in 2012.

The limited series is being made with the cooperation of King’s family members who will also appear in the series, along with King’s attorneys and close friends.

The series is yet another King-related project heading to a screen near you this year, as the country commemorates the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles uprising in April, looking back at the controversial Rodney King trial, the acquittals of the LAPD officers who were videotaped brutally beating King in 1991, and subsequent protests, violence and looting of the city.

Other projects include one from John Ridley (“Let It Fall: LA 1982-1992”), which will be released both in theaters and on TV; from Spike Lee who directed a taping of Roger Guenveur Smith’s one-man Rodney King show, which was picked up by Netflix to premiere on April 28; and several others.

The Morgan Freeman-produced limited series, which isn’t yet set up at a TV network – won’t premiere until 2018, escaping a crowded 2017 schedule of King-related releases on TV and in theaters.

Revelations Entertainment is an independent movie production company founded by actor Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary in 1996.