Today, Warner Bros. announced that it’s in the works to create a film around Lance Armstrong and his downfall.
Austin Powers‘ director Jay Roach will direct, and Side Effects‘ scribe Scott Z. Burns will pen the script. Additionally, Warner Bros. acquired the life rights to Tyler Hamilton, a former professional biker who was close with Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Service Team.
It’s not exactly sure yet what angle Roach and Burns will take on the biggest sports scandal in history, but Deadline writes:
A former Olympic gold medalist and NCAA champion, Hamilton was one of the first insiders to testify under oath and come forward publicly – on 60 Minutes — to break the code of silence. Michael Radutzky, an executive producer at CBS News and senior producer for 60 Minutes, is also in talks to produce. The studio is in talks to acquire confidential rights of other key individuals involved in the story, and all of this creates the tapestry to explore the biggest and most sophisticated doping scandal in the history of sports.
This is the second Lance Armstrong film in the works – the first to be announced will be produced by (you guessed it) J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures. Abrams and Paramount acquired the rights to the book (that hasn’t even been written yet) Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong. It’ll be penned by Juliet Macur, who is a New York Times sportswriter that covered Armstrong for over 10 years; from his recovery from cancer to winning seven Tour de France titles, while also managing to deflect doping rumors. Interestingly, Bradley Cooper has been reportedly speaking to J.J. Abrams about playing Armstrong.
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