Academy Award winnerJamie Foxxhas been planning to play Mike Tyson in a biopic for quite some time now, with the boxing legend now commenting on whether the project will still go-ahead following Foxx’s recent health scare. Speaking on theValuetainment podcast, Tyson admits that he is not sure “what’s going to happen” with the biopic in the aftermath of Foxx’s health issues, but believes it is still “a strong possibility.”
“Well, it was a possibility. I don’t know what’s going to happen now. But, you know, it’s a strong possibility. Because, you know, Jamie’s closer to my age, so to do him, they were going to do what they did with [the movie] Benjamin Button. They were going to make him look younger.”
The Jamie Foxx-ledMike Tysonbiopic has been in the works since 2015, with Foxx set to play the boxer from his youth through to the present day with the use of CGI and prosthetics. Foxx has been training hard for the role, and has teased how convincing the transformation will be. “It’s a blessing. Obviously, the training is different. We’re doing weighted pull ups to sort of make the back look the right way, and make the arm look a certain way,”the actor explained in 2020. “But it is, to me, I guarantee you, it’s the most dedicated I’ve been to making sure that this story gets told, and gets told in the right way. And I joke with Mike. I said, ‘When I get dressed up as you, I’m going to walk into your house, and your kids are going to say daddy’s home.'”
While the project started like as a movie, it will now reportedly bea limited series, withTraining Daydirector Antoine Fuqua to helm the series from a script written by Colin Preston. The series, which is currently titled Tyson, counts Martin Scorsese, Jamie Foxx, Mike Tyson, and Fuqua among its producers.
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Jamie Foxx Is Now Out of Hospital & Recuperating at Home
Last month, it was reported that Jamie Foxxhad been hospitalizedsuddenly after suffering an unspecified “medical complication” while filming the upcoming Netflix action flick,Back in Action. The media ran rampant with speculation, with rumors spreading that the actor was “gravely ill.” However, Foxx’s daughter Corinne took to social media to clear things up, revealing that her father had been out of hospital for weeks and was now recuperating at home.
“Sad to see how the media runs wild,“the statement reads. “My Dad has been out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating. In fact, he was playing pickleball yesterday! Thanks for everyone’s prayers and support!” She then added, “We have an exciting work announcement coming next week too!”
Though details of what happened are still largely unknown, it has since been reported that theSpider-Man: No Way Homestar is now undergoing physical rehab at a specialist facility in Chicago.
While we await further news regarding both Foxx’s wellbeing and his plannedMike Tysonbiopic, the actor has several projects already in the pipeline. Foxx will voice a stray dog named Bug alongside Will Ferrell in the comedyStrays; take down a cult inthe action thrillerGod Is a Bullet; solve a sci-fi mystery alongside John Boyega and Teyonah Parris inThey Cloned Tyrone; and leap into action hero mode in the Netflix action comedyBack in Action.
