For a man hailed worldwide as a human rights icon and honored here with a national holiday on his birthday, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has gotten pretty short shrift from Hollywood screenwriters.

Yes, there have been several films and documentaries on King's life but nothing substantial. They are the type of thin dramas we are most likely to see on BET at 3 a.m. just before the infomercials for gospel music or the Montel Williams juicer hit the air.

But that sad oversight might be corrected soon as word that Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood has signed on to the anticipated biopic on the life of King planned by DreamWorks studios.

Harwood won an Oscar for the screenplay of the movie "The Pianist." He also wrote the film "Mandela." Harwood has been nominated for Oscars for two other films, "The Dresser" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

Steven Spielberg will co-produce the film.

One has to wonder why it has taken so long for a serious movie to be done on King. Other global figures, such as Mandela, Ghandi and Ali, got their stories told in serious big-screen productions.

Perhaps the wrangling among King's surviving children delayed the project. One would have to wonder what director would want to wade in to the legal fighting over King's papers, letters, speeches and other artifacts, which has until recently, splintered the King family.

In October, King's surviving children Martin Luther King III, Bernice King and Dexter King, agreed in court to end the legal squabbling over how their father's legacy is managed.

The DreamWorks film will be the first theatrical motion picture to be authorized by the King estate and will utilize the King's intellectual property.

Now let's see who signs on to play King on the big screen.