As was widely expected, a movie about disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is set to go into production after Bad Robot partners JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk snapped up the rights to Juliet Macur’s forthcoming book Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong, reports Deadline.com. Macur – a sports reporter for The New York Times – has covered Armstrong’s career for over a decade, through the cyclist’s Tour de France wins, his recovery from cancer and eventual doping revelations. The American had denied using performance enhancing drugs for years, though finally admitted to cheating during a much-publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey last week.
Sony Pictures has long had an Armstrong movie project in the works, though that movie was dropped when the cyclist’s fall from grace began. It was set to star Jake Gyllenhaal and would have told the ‘American hero’ narrative of Armstrong’s rollercoaster career. Of course, the story has changed dramatically and Abrams film will focus on a cheat who pays a high price for his lies. As movie writer Mike Fleming Jr reports, the whole thing is reminiscent of when Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe made a deal with Phil Spector to tell the story of the producer’s life story, though the director went on record as saying the film “lacked a good third act.” That was obviously provided shortly afterwards when Spector was convicted of shooting the actress Lana Clarkson, but Universal, Crowe and Cruise never went forward with the project. It’s likely that JJ Abrams and his team will tackle the Armstrong project head on, but who could play the man himself? Who has the presence to portray such a complex character on-screen? Here’s 10 actors who we think could become Lance:
Could Jake Gyllenhall Play Lance Armstrong?
Continue reading: Lance Armstrong Movie: 10 Actors Who Could Play The Disgraced Cyclist (Pictures)
