The Urban Daily has compiled a list of  the best and brightest amongst our black male thespians.  All of our  candidates have the talent and screen presence  to lead their people to the promised land. And let’s face it–the African-American community knows quite a bit about that!

DENZEL WASHINGTON

You can’t lose with the one of the world’s greatest actors. From Malcolm X to The Hurricane, Denzel is the best in the game when it comes to breathing life to real life iconic characters. Denzel is notorious for his Method acting approach, studying his role for months in advance, and always delivers a flawless, three dimensional depiction of the characters he portrays.

CHIWETEL EJIOFOR

Chiwetel is one of Hollywood’s greatest untapped talents.  The British-born thespian gave a knockout, Oscar-worthy performance as Dewey Hughes in the woefully underrated Talk to Me. Let’s not forget his other stellar work in Inside Man, Children of Men and American Gangster. Chiwetel has been on his grind, working with A-list directors and steadily building a solid body of work.  Talent like Chiwetel’s  needs a breakout leading role, and MOSES just might be the ticket.

DJIMON  HOUNSOU

It’s time to get Djimon back on rotation on the big screen.  Hollywood seems to have selective amnesia when it comes to the power and vulnerability Djimon brings to his roles.   This two time Oscar nominee  needs to be bumped up to leading man status.  Djimon’s gravelly bass and beautiful midnight-hued skin, could give MOSES some serious sex appeal.

AVERY BROOKS

As Captain Benjamin Sisko on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, Avery Brooks became one of the Federation’s most iconic captains. While Captain Kirk was known for his action star, womanizing ways, and Picard for his intellect, Brooks made Captain Sisko equally cerebral and spiritual.  While his big screen presence has been limited, he gave a touching performance as Ed Norton’s mentor in American History X.   Brooks’ gravitas and magnetic screen presence would lend to a memorable Moses.

MORGAN FREEMAN

If you can play God Almighty,  being a prophet would a walk in the park for Morgan.  With a body of work that has spanned four decades, Morgan stamps all of his characters with  a quiet authority.  While Morgan has 2 Oscar wins for Best Supporting Actor, he has yet to score one for Best Lead.  Landing Moses would be the proverbial cherry on top of such an esteemed career.

“It was a pretty popular audition. At the time were not many Afrocentric films so it was an event. Plus it was Spielberg,” she remembers. “I read the book right when it came out. It was a pretty big sensation. Not much fiction gets written about us so it’s important to read it.”

In celebration of its 25th anniversary and Blu-Ray release on January 25, 2011 Rae Dawn Chong shares some candid thoughts and memories about making the film and what kind of progress we’ve made since.

Playing Squeak….

I auditioned specifically for Squeak because she was the only one that was mixed. I liked the fact that she was a hero and went to the jail to rescue Sophia. In the book she gets raped by the jailer but they cut it in the movie. They were really nervous about the movie so they created that churchy musical for Sug. That was an added piece to spice up the film. It was a bone of contention for me because I may not have been interested in the movie because there was no part for me after that. I’m on the periphery of the film. It wasn’t a step up for me.

The voice…

I had to raise my voice a bunch of octaves [but] I can sing. I’ve been a singer my whole life so I can make my voice do a lot of things. I’ve played a cave woman. In “Quest For Fire” I had a really high voice so it was nothing.

Getting punched by Sophia

“I learned a lot about stunts. That was me. I did the fall. It added levity. When the movie starts to get really intense it cuts away to a chicken or a chicken coup. They were concerned that it was being too heavy so they added things like Squeak falling into a hole, which is just physically impossible. If you read the books it might have made you question the motives but people love the movie.”

On the current state of Black Films…

I’m sort of appalled that we’re not further along and segregated in the community. The film community is relegated to the BET network and that’s it. We’re tokenized still. In films it’s Tyler Perry and Spike Lee occasionally. Not many strides have been made. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a narcissistic business. The writers and directors aren’t integrated in their personal lives [so] why woud they be professionally? It’s great that we have a movie like Precious, but is that our only story? It’s frustrating. It always has to be the “other.”

Up-Coming projects

I have three movies; The Blood of Pegasus on Sy Fy playing Mayda the witch, Jeff Who Lives At Home and I just finished a movie called Shiver where I play a detective.

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VIA EUR:

Steven Spielberg, Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones are set to produce a biopic on slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. for DreamWorks, which has acquired rights to his life story, reports Variety. The deal was made with King’s son, Dexter.

King, who was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis at the age of 39, copyrighted his speeches, books and famous works during his lifetime [click here to read].

The project marks the first film to be authorized by King’s estate and gives the producers the right to utilize King’s intellectual property — including his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered during the 1963 March on Washington — to create the definitive portrait of his life.

Dexter, who is chairman and CEO of King Inc, has been embroiled in a legal tussle with his siblings Bernice King and Martin Luther King III over who controls the personal papers of their late mother, Coretta Scott King, among other things.

And it looks like Dexter, and possibly Dreamworks, is going to be imbroiled in yet another legal tussle with Bernice and Martin, III because, according to the Associated Press, they’re not too thrilled with the agreement.

“This is a deal that Mr. Spielberg and his people … have entered into believing that they have the blessing of The King Estate. They don’t have the blessings of Bernice and Martin King,” Bernice King told The AP in a telephone interview on Tuesday after finding out about the arrangement in an e-mail from Dexter King.

Click here to read more about this story and we’ll keep you posted as more develops!

Star Trek [click here to read] may have some stiff competition this summer with Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen [click here to read] looking like this! Starring Shia Lebeouf, Megan Fox, Tyrese [click here to read] and a whole lotta robots in disguise, Michael Bay has Spielberg’s stamp of approval.

Will he have yours?! Check out this new trailer below:

In this Rap Radar exclusive, Hollywood comes out to not support Asher Roth?! I guess our illustrious boss was right, no one cares about this guy from Pennsylvania.

What do YOU think? Is White rap done? Black folks don’t care about lyrics anymore? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy just revealed at today’s junket for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button that plans have fallen through for a fourth entry in the “Jurassic Park” franchise.

When asked if there was any development on the long-anticipated sequel, Kennedy responded, “No… I don’t know. You know, when Crichton passed away, I sorta felt maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s a sign that we don’t mess with it.”

Since Joe Johnston’s Jurassic Park III in 2001, Universal has been developing a fourth outing in the successful franchise. The studio commissioned William Monahan and John Sayles to pen a script in ’04.

Jurassic Park 4 has consistently been in the Top Previews on ComingSoon.net over the years.

The New York Post is reporting that Morgan Freeman’s divorce from wife Myrna Colley-Lee “will be both nasty and expensive for the Oscar winner.”

Page Six estimates that Freeman’s wife of 24 years could pocket more than $100 million in a potential settlement.

Original estimates put the actor’s net worth in the $75 million to $90 million range, but now it is being reported he may be worth as much as three to four times that amount.

Among assets contributing to the actor’s bounty are a very valuable gold coin collection, a rare stamp collection, a $7 million home in the Virgin Islands, real estate in Freeman’s native Mississippi worth nearly $30 million (including a $5 million personal home), a $10 million New York apartment and a $15 million Los Angeles estate.

Freeman’s marital problems made headlines in August after the 71-year-old actor was in a rollover car crash while driving a car registered to his passenger, Demaris Meyer, 48.

Only days later, Freeman confirmed rumors that he and his wife were divorcing, and that he and Colley-Lee, a costume designer, had been separated since December 2007.

Meyer has been employed as a Memphis-based executive assistant with Federal Express and reportedly is a longtime friend of both Freemans.

As previously reported, DreamWorks is currently securing the remake rights to the 2003 Korean film about a man’s mysterious kidnapping, 15-year imprisonment and feverish quest for revenge upon being released.

Protosevich has also written “Poseidon” and “The Cell,” and he worked on “Thor” for Marvel Studios. His screenplay for “Legend” helped the film earn $584 million in revenue worldwide.

Smith, meanwhile, was in Miami recently for a charity screening of his latest film, “Seven Pounds,” in which he plays a man who does remarkable things for seven strangers. In keeping with the movie’s theme, Smith also donated 300 turkeys to the needy.

“Seven Pounds” arrives in theaters on Dec. 19.