With the amount of biopics in production right now, it
appears that it's biopic season in Hollywood. Andre
3000
is in the process of bringing back to life Jimmy
Hendricks, while there appears to be a growing
controversy over the casting of Zoe Saldana as Nina
Simone in her biopic. Now, David Oyelowo is the latest
to
recreate a real person as boxer Sugar Ray Robinson in
Sweet Thunder.
According to Deadline, the film will be based on the Wil
Haygood's biography "Thunder: The Life And Times Of
Sugar Ray Robinson", which was first published in
2009.
The Synopsis of the book goes as follows:
Continuing to set himself apart as one of our
canniest cultural historians, Wil Haygood grounds
the spectacular story of Robinson's rise to
greatness within the context of the fighter's life
and times. Born Walker Smith, Jr., in 1921,
Robinson had an early childhood marked by the
seething racial tensions and explosive race riots
that infected the Midwest throughout the
twenties and thirties. After his mother moved
him and his sisters to the relative safety of
Harlem, he came of age in the vibrant post-
Renaissance years. It was there that—encouraged
to box by his mother, who wanted him off the
streets—he soon became a rising star, cutting an
electrifying, glamorous figure, riding around town
in his famous pink Cadillac. Beyond the celebrity,
though, Robinson would emerge as a powerful,
often controversial black symbol in a rapidly
changing America. Haygood also weaves in the
stories of Langston Hughes, Lena Horne, and
Miles Davis, whose lives not only intersected with
Robinson's but also contribute richly to the scope
and soul of the book.
From Robinson's gruesome six-bout war with Jake
"Raging Bull" LaMotta and his lethal meeting with
Jimmy
Doyle, to his Harlem nightclub years and thwarted
show-
biz dreams, Haygood brings the champion's story –
inside the ring and out – powerfully to life against a
vividly painted backdrop of the world he captivated.
Oyelowo is not only starring in the film, he is also
executive producing. Also producing is Moneyball
producer Rachael Horovitz and Game Change's Danny
Strong. Though no director has been selected yet,
offers
should be made in the coming week.

http://www..com/2012/10/david-oyelowo-set-to-play-sugar-ray.html