In the race to get a film – at least one that’s not a documentary – out about shamed American cyclist Lance Armstrong, it appears that Stephen Frears is the one to claim the yellow jersey. He’s set to start shooting on Friday for a still-untitled project, and has Chris O’Dowd, Guillaume Canet and Breaking Bad’s Jesse Plemons all aboard{
The trio joins Ben Foster as Armstrong, in a film that charts the rise of Armstrong through the 1990s and early 2000s, first battling cancer and then as he and his teammates dominate the quintessentially European sport of cycling.
Winning the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times, Armstrong retires as a sporting hero worth millions of dollars. Sports writer David Walsh (O’Dowd) is at first charmed by his charisma and talent. Seven Tours later, and ostracised by the cycling community for speaking out, he believes the world is being sold a lie. It is several years before Armstrong is exposed.
John Hodge wrote the script for the film based on Walsh's book Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit Of Lance Armstrong, which Working Title and StudioCanal are backing. It’ll shoot in the UK and on location in France.