‘THE WIRE’ creator David Simon writing HBO miniseries about MARTIN LUTHER KING

Sign me up for this miniseries based on topic and talent alone. Wait — is that really alone, then? Or is it a couple of reasons? Whatever the case, the Guy That Gave Us That Show Everyone Loves and I Need to Watch (Treme, obviously, #trolling) is returning to HBO for an MLK miniseries.

How many Martin Luther King projects does Hollywood need all at once? And Oprah Winfrey, she’s got two on the move at the same time. Last week it was revealed that she is throwing her producer weight behind Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” over at Paramount, and now at HBO, she’s got another biopic brewing on the civil rights leader.

Winfrey has good taste, rounding up “The Wire” and “Treme” scribe David Simon to write the first installment of a six-hour series about Martin Luther King, with Simon to pen the book for the show as well too (with “Treme” co-creator Eric Overmyer pitching in). And before you wonder about conflict of interest, let us just remind you that “Selma” is focused on the Selma to Montgomery march of 1965, while the mini is going to tackle King’s entire life. The HBO effort will be using Taylor Branch’s acclaimed book trilogy “America: In The King Years” as the source material, giving Simon over 1000 pages of history to drawn upon. And all the major events and relationships you’d expect to be tackled are expected to included. [Indie Wire]