Ava DuVernay’s SELMA To Open December 25; Oprah Winfrey Joins Cast

Paramount Pictures and Pathé today announced that the feature film SELMA will have a limited release in the U.S. on Christmas Day and will open wide on January 9, 2015.

The date puts director Ava DuVernay’s (MIDDLE OF NOWHERE) film in a prime spot during awards season. Definitely add this one to your calendar.

SELMA is the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic struggle to secure voting rights for all people – a dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated with the epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and led to President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The film’s release will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the landmark legislation.

It was also announced that Academy Award nominee Oprah Winfrey has joined the cast as Annie Lee Cooper, an elderly woman and visible leader amongst the civil rights protesters in Selma who tried to register to vote and was unfairly denied by the sheriff.

The film is currently shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery and Selma, Alabama.

SELMA is being produced by Oprah Winfrey, Plan B, the producers of the Academy Award-winning TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE, and Cloud Eight Films’ Academy Award-winning Christian Colson (127 HOURS, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE).

Here’s how the huge, A-list cast breaks down:

• David Oyelowo (INTERSTELLAR, LEE DANIEL’S THE BUTLER) as Martin Luther King Jr.
• Tom Wilkinson (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, MICHAEL CLAYTON) as Lyndon Baines Johnson
• Carmen Ejogo (ALEX CROSS, PRIDE AND GLORY) as Coretta Scott King
• Tim Roth (Lie to Me, THE INCREDIBLE HULK) as George Wallace
• Oprah Winfrey (LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER, THE COLOR PURPLE”) as Annie Lee Cooper
• Andre Holland (42, 1600 Penn) as Andrew Young
• Omar J. Dorsey (DJANGO UNCHAINED, THE BLIND SIDE) as James Orange
• Alessandro Nivola (A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, AMERICAN HUSTLE) as John Doar
• Dylan Baker (The Good Wife, Damages) as J. Edgar Hoover
• Giovanni Ribisi (My Name is Earl, AVATAR) as Lee White
• Cuba Gooding Jr. (JERRY MAGUIRE) as Fred Gray
• Tessa Thompson (Heroes, Veronica Mars) as Diane Nash
• Colman Domingo (LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER, 42) as Ralph Abernathy
• Stephen Root (“Justified,” “Boardwalk Empire”) as Al Lingo
• Jeremy Strong (“The Good Wife,” “ZERO DARK THIRTY”) as James Reeb
• Common (NOW YOU SEE ME) as James Bevel

Paramount is handling the film’s domestic distribution, Pathé is distributing in the UK and France and Pathé International will handle sales to the rest of the world.

Follow the director on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AVAETC and Instagram: http://instagram.com/directher for updates on SELMA.