Variety reports that Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has been cast to play heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in an untitled biopic. Foxx played corner man Dwight “Bundini” Brown in the Muhammad Ali biopic Ali. The Tyson film is to be written by Terence Winter, producer and writer known for The Wolf of Wall Street, and HBO TV hits Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos. He knows how to write a fight scene.
How will it differ from the 1995 HBO television movie Tyson which starred Michael Jai White? Well, a lot has happened to Tyson over the past 19 years. He had a couple of comeback bouts including that time Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear. He filed for bankruptcy. He was inducted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He pleaded guilty to felony drug possession. He appeared in The Hangover. He had a one-man show in Vegas. Oh, and his book Undisputed Truth made the New York Times bestseller list. So, Foxx and Winter have plenty of material to work with. Fingers crossed the film will include The Felice Brothers’ 2011 song “Cus’s Catskill Gym” which tells a brief story of Iron Mike.
