Carmen Ejogo is in talks to play Martin Luther King Jr.'s wife Coretta Scott King in the upcoming biopic Selma.

David Oyelowo is set to play Martin Luther King Jr., with Tom Wilkinson starring as U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in this drama that details the 1965 march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol of Montgomery where African-American citizens tried to secure their voting rights, only to be beaten back by the police. It took three attempts for the rally to get off the ground, because the marcher's numbers kept increasing each time. Coretta Scott King, who married Martin Luther King Jr. in 1956, was a part of the march with her husband during the Selma Voting Rights Movement.

Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere) is directing from a script she co-wrote with Paul Webb. Lee Daniels had once been attached to direct, but he is no longer involved in the project.

Other actors such as Hugh Jackman, Cedric the Entertainer and Lenny Kravitz were also attached during Lee Daniels' tenure, but it isn't known if they are still involved. Liam Neeson was originally slated to play Lyndon Johnson before Tom Wilkinson stepped in, although David Oyelowo has been with the project from the very beginning.

Oprah Winfrey is producing through her Harpo Films company, alongside Plan B's Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, who were behind the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave, and Christian Coulson. Pathe is providing the financing, with the company's Cameron McCracken also producing, and Paramount handing domestic distribution.

Carmen Ejogo recently starred in the ABC series Zero Hour, and she will next be seen in Universal's The Purge: Anarchy.