George Foreman Biopic To Premiere In Theatres April 28
BY
MANOUK AKOPYAN
Published Tue Dec 27, 2022, 04:23 AM EST
One of boxing’s greatest icons is the latest fighter who will be immortalized on the screen.
A biopic on the life and times of former two-time heavyweight champion George Foreman will debut in theatres on April 28.
Sony Pictures and Affirm Films have previously targeted and moved from several other dates for the film’s release, and the biopic does not have an official title or trailer yet.
Actor Khris Davis – who’s played Steel in “Judas and the Black Messiah” and Malik in “Space Jam: A New Legacy” – will play the role of Foreman.
The film will be directed by George Tillman Jr. and also features actors Forest Whitaker, Matthew Glave, John Magaro, Sullivan Jones, Jasmine Mathews, Sonja Sohn, Shein Mompremier, Lawrence Gilliard Jr, Sam Trammell, Erica Tazel, Matthew Glave, and Al Sapienza.
Frank Baldwin wrote the screenplay, and the movie will be produced by Mandalay Pictures.
“It took me a lot of time until I was ready to tell my story on the big screen, but with George Tillman at the helm, I knew I was good. When you get knocked down, you get back up again both in life and in the ring,” Foreman said earlier this year about the film.
The Hall of Fame fighter Foreman is one of boxing’s most fascinating and recognizable figures of all time.
A menacing and heavy-hitting fighter during his heyday, “Big George” accumulated a record of 76 wins (68 KOs) and 5 losses in a career that spanned from 1969 to 1997.
Foreman was a United States Olympics gold medalist in 1968 and went on to beat the likes of Joe Frazier (twice), Ken Norton, and Ron Lyle during the golden age of heavyweight boxing.
Foreman suffered his first pro defeat in 1974 to Muhammad Ali in “The Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire.
Foreman retired in 1977 after a loss to Jimmy Young; he had a religious epiphany and stayed inactive until 1987.
His comeback campaign climaxed when he became the oldest heavyweight champion of all time at the age of 45 when he knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994.
For non-boxing fans, Foreman, a Christian ordained minister, has also touched the lives of tens of millions of others as the entrepreneur behind the commercially successful George Foreman Grill.
In August, Foreman was sued by two women who accused him of sexual abuse in the 1970s. Foreman denied the sexual assault allegations and claimed he is being extorted.