Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Relativity Studios is almost finished acquiring the script for a Jesse Owens biopic with Anthony Mackie set as the lead star.
Owens was a well-known American track-and-field athlete with four Olympic gold medals under his belt. During the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he even earned the displeasure of tyrant Adolf Hitler for dominating the worldwide sports competition. Hitler was convinced that German athletes were far superior than all the other athletes from the world, so when he saw Owens beat the Germans, he was left dumbfounded.
Mackie has wanted to play Owens for years, according to Deadline. Talks about its production began way back in May 2014 but it is only now that the biopic is seeing some progress. The goal of the film is start production sometime this October in order to make sure it hits theatres right on time for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
It will mark 80 years since Owens showed Hitler up during the Olympics.
The film is slowly starting to piece together after Mackie got together with Jamie Linden and George Olson, who wrote the script. Jason Spire, Linden and Olson will also serve as the film producers now while Robbie Brenner will oversee the biopic for Relativity.
No title has been given for Mackie's movie yet, although this will not be the first time Owens' life is portrayed in film. Focus Features already did one with Race, starring Stephan James.
Race is directed by Stephen Hopkins and written by Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel. They have already started shooting last fall with an impressive cast that includes William Hurt, Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, and Carice van Houten.
At the same time, Disney also has plans developing a biopic based on the Jeremy Schaap book called Triumph, which will be written by David Seidler, who wrote the award-winning The King's Speech.
Mackie has starred in several well-known movies already, such as The Hurt Locker, The Adjustment Bureau, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Runner Runner, among other movies. For comic book fans, his most notable role has to be Sam Wilson, also known as Falcon in Captain America: Winter Soldier and the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron movie.
Aside from that, he will be starring in Paramount's comedy film Make a Wish and John Hillcoat's Triple 9. Other movies he's tied up with include Our Brand is Crisis from Warner Bros, which he will appear in with Sandra Bullock. There is also an untitled Sony Christmas comedy which he will star in together with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon Levitt.
