Oscar Grant Movie, 'Fruitvale', May Star Octavia Spencer And Michael B. Jordan (PHOTOS)

Tragic BART Shooting Heads To Silver Screen

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Octavia Spencer, the Oscar-winning actress from last year's Blockbuster film, "The Help", is allegedly in negotiation to star in "Fruitvale", an upcoming film about the shooting of Oscar Grant.

While Spencer is considering the role of Grant's mother Wanda Johnson, Michael B. Jordan of "Friday Night Lights" is reportedly in negotiations to play Grant. The film will be produced by Forest Whitaker and his production partner Nina Ying, and production is reported to begin as soon as July.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS AND VIDEO)

According to SFGate, Fruitvale will chronicle Grant's final hours before he was shot and killed on New Year's Eve 2009.

In the early hours of January 1, 2009, Oscar Grant was killed when he was shot by BART officer Johannes Mehserle who had restrained Grant after an incident at the Fruitvale BART Station. The shooting sparked national outrage after video footage taken on cell phone cameras showed Grant on the ground with his hands behind his back before Mehserle fired.

In 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter after he testified that he had meant to use his taser instead of his gun. The verdict sparked destructive riots in Oakland, where many argued for a harsher sentence.

The movie's announcement comes just weeks after the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida -- an incident that many have compared to the death of Oscar Grant.

See images of the Oscar Grant riots in Oakland in our slideshow below. Then watch an amateur video of the shooting taken from a cell phone camera (CAUTION: video contains graphic and disturbing content):

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