According to former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Jamie Foxx and Martin Scorsese are both eager to bring the boxer’s life story to the big screen.
“Me and Jamie Foxx are in discussion, and we gonna do it,” Tyson told the Daily Mirror. “Within a year to 18 months, we’re going to do the Mike Tyson story and he’s going to portray me.”;
Tyson did not specify how Martin Scorsese would be involved in the project.
Since Foxx is two years younger than Tyson, he may seem like an odd candidate to play the boxer during his prime. But Tyson says that the movie will use Benjamin Button-style CGI to make Foxx appear 20 years younger. “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 said.
Foxx has previously played Tyson in comedy skits and expressed interest in doing a Tyson biopic during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Michael in May. “I got a chance to hang out with Mike when Mike was at his height, and I watched [him] go from his height to where he is now, and I talked to him about doing his story. I think that story would be fantastic,”; he said. “I had my makeup artist dress me up as Mike Tyson [… ] People were literally coming up asking for autographs. So hopefully, Mike, if you’re listening, let’s make history.”;
