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'Attack the Block's John Boyega to Lead Competing Jesse Owens Biopic

by Ethan Anderton
January 24, 2014
Source: Variety

We just recently learned that Disney was planning a film about iconic athlete Jesse Owens from director Antoine Fuqua. But it just wouldn't by Hollywood with a competing project about the same subject. Variety reports John Boyega, who delivered a breakthrough performance in Attack the Block, has been tapped to play Owens in a film from Forecast Pictures and ID+ that will be shopped at the European Film Market last month (which already makes it a little less likely than the Disney production). The film is called Race, which has a double meaning considering Owens defied Aryan supremacy at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Stephen Hopkins (Ghost and the Darkness, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers) will direct the film with a script from Anna Waterhouse & Joe Shrapnel (Frankie & Alice), and that seems to already make this a subpar film when compared to Disney's. Of course, the casting of Boyega could elevate it to being the superior adaptation. After all, the production is hoping to start shooting in May, so they might beat Disney to the punch. This film also aims to focus on Owens and his record four gold medals in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the long jump and the 400-meter relay, defying Hitler's will against other races. Disney's film is helped with a popular book as the source material, so we'll see who wins out.

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