A major Lance Armstrong biopic is in the works with a star-studded team behind it, and the infamous cyclist’s official blessing.
The film package prompted a “frenzied bidding war”, according to Deadline, with offers from several major studios.
Oscar-nominated Austin Butler is set to play Armstrong. Butler received a best actor nomination for his role in Elvis. Conclave’s Edward Berger is set to direct, and King Richard’s Zach Baylin is writing the script.
Producer Scott Stuber, who has just worked on Bruce Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, has been working to secure Armstrong’s life rights, and following discussions over a long period, a deal was made.
Deadline reports that Stuber made it clear to Armstrong that “they needed to tell everything or he didn’t want to do the film”.
Armstrong survived cancer before winning the Tour de France for seven consecutive years from 1998–2005. A doping investigation found Armstrong to have used performance-enhancing drugs and saw him stripped of his titles in 2012. He received a lifetime ban from the sport, and later admitted to blood doping.
The American’s story was told in the 2015 movie The Program, based on David Walsh’s book Seven Deadly Sins and starring Ben Foster as Armstrong.
Armstrong was not part of The Program, but this time around Baylin is reportedly talking to the disgraced cyclist and has spent time with people in his life.
The film is intended to be a cross between F1 The Movie and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Last year, it was also revealed that Armstrong will narrate a documentary on the history of Schwinn Bicycles.
