Anthony Mackie poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
After playing Captain America’s sidekick, actor Anthony Mackie is set to play civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. opposite Bryan Cranston as U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson in HBO’s film All The Way.
The film is an adaptation of a Tony-winning Robert Schenkkan play, which ran at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre in 2014. The play was directed by Bill Rauch, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where All The Way began its theatrical life. The HBO version will be directed by Jay Roach.
The film depicts LBJ after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, which made Johnson the 36th president of the United States, through his tumultuous battles to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 followed by his landslide re-election.
Mackie’s role will be “significant and portrays a far more collaborative and complex relationship than was depicted in the Best Picture nominee Selma,” according to Deadline.
The movie will be produced by Amblin Television, Tale Told Productions and Moon Shot Entertainment. Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will serve as executive producers along with Schenkkan, Cranston and James Degus.
Mackie will soon appear on the big screen as Falcon in Captain America: Civil War, as well as Ant-Man, Xmas, Shelter, Our Brand Is Crisis and Make A Wish. He is also slated to star as Jesse Owens in an upcoming biopic from Jamie Linden and George Olson.