Jamie Foxx to Play Mike Tyson in Biopic
It looks like Jamie Foxx will have to get fitted for a funky-looking face tattoo.
Foxx will play Mike Tyson in an untitled biopic from Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street writer Terence Winter. In addition to the casting announcement, Foxx’s manager, Rick Yorn, is on board as a producer. The untitled projected is currently searching for studio backing, although the film is attractive enough that finding a distributor shouldn't exactly be a Herculean task. This is a story about one of the most popular, controversial fighters of all-time, with an Oscar winner in a role he's likely to knock out of the ballpark.
It's not known how much of Tyson's life the film will cover, but there are plenty of dramatic moments to choose from, from his rise to the heavyweight title in the 1980s, to his defeat at the hands of Buster Douglas in 1990, in one of the biggest upsets in the history of boxing. However, it wouldn't surprise me if the film focused more on everything that came after, such as his six-year prison stint following his rape conviction, or his high-profile return to boxing, featuring the unpleasant ear fiasco with Evander Holyfield (seriously, who bites a dude's ear off?!).
Come to think of it, things haven't exactly been easy for Tyson in the 21st century either, really, as he's had to come over a litany of hardships including bankruptcy in 2003 and the tragic death of his 4-year-old daughter in 2009 in a treadmill accident. However, Tyson has managed to bounce back in recent years, seeing a career resurgence following his appearance in The Hangover. His one-man show in Las Vegas was a huge success in 2012, and his memoir, Undisputed Truth, was a New York Times bestseller. In short, there's enough material here for your classic biopic structure: Humble Beginnings, Meteoric Rise to Stardom, Unbelievable Success, Sudden Fall, Rock Bottom, and Career Resurgence. And Jamie Foxx is no stranger to the structure, lest we forget which movie his Oscar is for.
Interestingly, in discussing the casting announcement with the Daily Mirror, Tyson revealed that the film would utilize a refined version of the revolutionary technology used to de-age Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, since the 46-year-old Foxx will be playing Tyson at various stages throughout his life.
"Within a year to 18 months, we’re going to do the Mike Tyson story and he’s going to portray me, and now they have this new animation; because you know Jamie’s pretty much my age so he can’t portray me but they have this new system," Tyson said.
This should be a good movie, especially with Winter penning the script and Foxx taking the lead. In fact, it might even be a great movie. I suppose time will tell.
Via: Variety
Credit: Lucas Jackson / Reuters