First trailer for Martin Luther King biopic 'Selma' marches in, and it's tense

 By 
Josh Dickey
 on 
First trailer for Martin Luther King biopic 'Selma' marches in, and it's tense
A screenshot from the Paramount Pictures release "Selma." Credit: Yahoo Movies

LOS ANGELES -- Selma, Ava DuVernay’s Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic, is by all accounts an Oscar sleeper for multiple categories -- and the first trailer is finally here.

David Oyelowo plays Dr. King in what looks more like a tense thriller than an introspective character study, with the three 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery as the backdrop. King turned his attention on the Alabama cities to secure voting rights there, leading demonstrations that helped convince President Lyndon Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act.

Also starring are Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Giovanni Ribisi and Common -- with Oprah Winfrey, who we catch just a few glimpses of here.

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