Retired boxer Mike Tyson has certainly established himself as an entertainment jack of all trades since he left the sport, despite his legal problems over the years. His next venture is helping out with a biopic on his life, which will star Jamie Foxx, according to Tyson himself.
In an interview with The U.K. Daily Mirror, Tyson said that Foxx is set to play Tyson in a film that will track his troubled life. Since Foxx is 46, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button-style CG will be used to make him younger.
“Me and Jamie Foxx are in discussion, and we gonna do it,” Tyson told the Mirror. “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 claims that Martin Scorsese, who directed the best boxing biopic in film history, Raging Bull, will be involved, according to the boxer. However, it’s not known in what capacity. Sources for Variety had more details, but didn’t say anything about direct involvement for Scorsese.
Terence Winter, who has worked with Scorsese on The Wolf of Wall Street and Boardwalk Empire, is expected to write. Foxx’s manager, Rick Yorn, is overseeing the still untitled project.
Despite his troubled life, Tyson has never been the subject of a feature film. Michael Jai White did star in HBO’s TV movie Tyson in 1995.
Foxx’s next project is Sony’s Annie reboot, which opens on Christmas Day. He did win an Oscar for the Ray Charles biopic Ray.
image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com