Well this isn’t something cycling fans most likely had on their bingo card. According to Deadline, studios are circling a newly assembled package centered on one of sports’ most polarizing figures. Austin Butler is attached to star as none other than Lance Armstrong in a feature film now being taken to market. Oscar-winning filmmaker Edward Berger is also attached to direct. The script is being written by King Richard screenwriter Zach Baylin, with Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbit producing alongside Berger. Josh Glick, Zac Frognowski, and Baylin will serve as executive producers.
Bidding war
The project has quickly become one of the most aggressively pursued projects in La La Land, with multiple major studios said to be in the mix.
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Armstrong’s life has long drawn Hollywood interest for its…erm, extremes. If you just landed from Jupiter and hadn’t heard about the American, here’s a quick summary. After surviving testicular cancer, he returned to professional cycling and rose to unprecedented dominance, winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles. That legacy ultimately collapsed when Armstrong admitted to years of systematic doping following prolonged and public denials, a reckoning that reshaped both his career and reputation.
Armstrong onboard
Although the scandal was previously dramatized in 2015’s The Program, this marks the first time Armstrong has granted life rights for a feature film. Stuber made it clear early on that the project would only move forward with no restrictions on the story, a condition the Texan ultimately accepted after extensive discussions.
According to Deadline, the film is being positioned as a “character study.” Baylin has conducted a whole bunch of research, speaking with Armstrong himself as well as several other folks associated with him. (Who, it wasn’t said, but you can probably guess a bunch.)
For Butler, fresh off his Oscar-nominated run as Elvis Presley, the role represents another, well…bold transformation. At least he doesn’t have to sing. (There’s a joke there about Armstrong’s former teammates, but we won’t go there.) The project also reunites Butler with Berger following their upcoming collaboration on The Barrier.
And before you run to the comments to say, “nobody cares about this cheat,” it seems people still do, for good or for bad.