After memorable supporting turns in high-profile movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Hurt Locker, Anthony Mackie is finally set to headline his own film as track and field star Jesse Owens. The runner famously won a record four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, frustrating Adolf Hitler’s attempts to showcase “Aryan racial superiority” at the event. Owens was known as an outspoken, charismatic figure, and given that Mackie shares those traits—there’s never been a talk show audience he couldn’t charm—he seems like an ideal fit for the role.
Mackie’s untitled film, which hails from Relativity, is one of three Owens projects currently in the works. Focus has already completed filming on Race, which stars Selma’s Stephan James as the famous runner and will be released in April 2016. Meanwhile, Disney is in pre-production on an untitled project based on the book Triumph by ESPN host Jeremy Schaap. Relativity’s version, meanwhile, is being written by We Are Marshall’s Jamie Linden and writer George Olson.
Those who want to get a sense of what Mackie’s take on Owens will be like can just watch that running scene from Winter Soldier, except, you know, imagine the roles are reversed.
