Working Title Films has announced – that two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman has joined the cast of Stephen Frears’ untitled Lance Armstrong movie that stars Ben Foster as the controversial cyclist. Hoffman’s role remains under wraps. Adapted by John Hodge from journalist David Walsh’s book “Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong”, the film chronicles Armstrong’s rise to fame and fall from grace, including his Tour de France championships and battle with cancer. Chris O’Dowd co-stars as Walsh, with Guillaume Canet, Lee Pace and Jesse Plemons in key supporting roles. Walsh was among the integral figures who helped expose doping within professional cycling.
The film charts the thrilling rise of pro-cyclist Lance Armstrong through the 90s and early 2000s, battling cancer, as he and his fellow American teammates dominate and change the quintessentially European sport of cycling. Winning the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times, Lance retires as one of the great sporting heroes of our time, and worth millions of dollars. David Walsh, sports writer, is at first charmed by Lance’s charisma and talent. Seven Tours later, and ostracised by the cycling community for speaking out, he believes the world is being sold a lie. A lone voice, it is several years before Lance is exposed.
There are two other dramatic projects on Lance Armstrong in the works. Warner Bros. Pictures has been working on an untitled project scripted by ‘Side Effects’ writer Scott Z. Burns to be directed by Jay Roach, the director of celebrated fact-based films ‘Game Change’ and ‘Recount.’ That film looks at Tyler Hamilton, the Olympic gold medalist, NCAA champion and Armstrong teammate on the US Postal Service Team who was menaced by Armstrong after he took to 60 Minutes to break the code of silence.
Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot partners JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk are also working on a movie about the racer, based on the HarperCollins book ‘Cycle Of Lies: The Fall Of Lance Armstrong’ by New York Times sportwriter Juliet Macur. Expect more news about these projects shortly.
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