We’re in the midst of a cultural moment about O.J. Simpson. We’re halfway through 2016 and we’ve seen two excellent, long form viewing experiences about his life: FX‘s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and the monumental documentary “O.J. Made In America.” And part of that narrative is lawyer Johnnie Cochran, whose defense of Simpson during his double murder trial, is now the stuff of pop culture and legal legend. But what you might not know is that before that case, he was already a hugely respected lawyer, and now a film will tackle the man before he was a celebrity.
THR reports that Anthony Mackie will play Johnnie Cochran in an untitled drama set to be directed by Justin Chadwick (“Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom,” “Tulip Fever“). The film will tell the story behind one of Cochran’s first high profile cases, his suit against the Signal Hill Police Department over the wrongful death of football player Ron Settles, who was found beaten and dead in his jail cell the morning after his arrest, with the police claiming it was suicide.
It was just one case of many during an era of tremendous distrust of the LAPD, and it’s easy to see how it formed Cochrane’s opinion of the force that weighed heavily on the Simpson case. As for Mackie, it’s a juicy role to bite into, and he’ll have big shoes to fill following Courtney B. Vance‘s turn on ‘The People v. O.J.’