Jamie Foxx is an actor with plenty of experience in the realm of biopics. He’s had roles in “Ali,” “Just Mercy,” and, obviously, “Ray.” The latter of which earned him a Best Actor Oscar win. And now, he has his sights set on bringing the life story of former boxing champion Mike Tyson to the big screen. And according to Foxx, his Mike Tyson film is coming sooner than you might think.
Speaking on Mark Birnbaum’s Instagram Live series “Catching Up” (via People), Foxx was asked if his long-in-development Tyson biopic is still in the works. The actor replied with a “definitive yes” and went on to explain why it’s taken a while for his film to come together.
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“Look, doing biographies is a tough thing,” Foxx explained. “Sometimes it takes 20 years to get them done. But we officially got the real ball rolling.”
He added, “We want to show everybody evolves. I think when we lay the layer of Mike Tyson in this story, I think everybody from young and old will be able to understand this man’s journey.”
The Tyson film has gone through many different iterations over the years. At one point, several years ago, Foxx even claimed that he was trying to get Martin Scorsese to direct the film. And for those concerned that Foxx doesn’t quite resemble the world-famous boxer, the actor said that the film will use technology and other tricks to transform him into Tyson.
“And then just the technology of how I’m gonna look, I guarantee you people will run up on me in the street, and ask for autographs, and think that I’m Mike,” he said.
Of course, there is going to be some old-school ways to make Foxx turn into a championship boxer, including a strict workout regimen that consists of 60 pull-ups, 60 dips, and 100 push-ups. Oh and calf prosthetics because Foxx admitted that he “ain’t got no calf muscles.”
In addition to his Mike Tyson film, Foxx is also working on his directorial debut, “All-Star Weekend,” as well as another directorial effort, “When We Pray.” He’s also the lead voice in the upcoming Pixar film, “Soul.” And there are still reports that he’s involved in some way with Todd McFarlane’s upcoming “Spawn” film. Basically, there’s a lot of Jamie Foxx projects in the future.
