The battle of the Lance Armstrong biopics is heating up, with two projects pedaling furiously toward release.
Working Title's version has a director, Stephen Frears, and star, Ben Foster. Now the Warner Bros. project is getting a push forward, with Bradley Cooper in talks to produce and perhaps headline the movie about the disgraced cyclist.
According to Deadline, the "Hangover" star is circling the Jay Roach-directed biopic, "Red Blooded American," which is interesting since he'd been rumored for a J.J. Abrams take on Armstrong's story. At the time, Cooper denied any involvement in the Abrams project.
"Red Blooded American" has the advantage of having the rights to Tyler Hamilton's story. A rival and former teammate of Armstrong, Hamilton made waves when he admitted on "60 Minutes" that he'd seen Armstrong doping.
Cooper could play either Armstrong or Hamilton in the movie, though he wouldn't get on the bike for some time. He recently wrapped up "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O. Russell's "American Hustle" and is due to shoot Cameron Crowe's next movie in the fall.
The former seven-time Tour de France champion seems to be an object of quite a lot of fascination these days. In addition to the three Armstrong biopic projects in development, the documentary "The Armstrong Lie" will debut at next month's Toronto International Film Festival.
[via Deadline]
