There's a wave of up 'n coming African-American actors that are on the cusp of becoming household names. Nate Parker, Omari Hardwick, and right at the top of the list is David Oyelowo. More than the other two, Oyelowo has already been in a number of high-profile films in supporting roles, starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Paperboy. He'll be nearly impossible to miss over the next few months with roles in Lincoln, Jack Reacher, and The Butler.
All that's missing is that one defining performance nobody will be able to ignore, and he may have just found it. Deadline reports Oyelowo is set to play boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all-time, for damn good reason, Robinson fought over 200 fights over the course of his 26 year career and defeated a number of Hall of Famers in the process. Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull touched upon his series of fights with Jake LaMotta, who he faced six times and won five.
The biopic will be based on Wil Haygood's book, Sweet Thunder: The Life And Times Of Sugar Ray Robinson, with the author providing a draft of the screenplay. Danny Strong(Game Change) is producing along with Oyelowo, and may provide a rewrite later on as development moves forward. Robinson's early career as he fought the pull of organized crime who were basically running the sport.
The search is on for a director, and I'm already afraid Lee Daniels may enter the picture. Haygood wrote the article that sparked Daniels' The Butler, which co-stars Oyelowo and has Strong as a co-writer. Robinson's story is a great one, one of the best in boxing, and I don't want Daniels to come aboard and ruin it.
Oyelowo is currently filming Nina, the Nina Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana.
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