EXCLUSIVE: Mudbound and Straight Outta Compton star Jason Mitchell is to play inspirational former wrestling champ Anthony Robles in biopic Unstoppable.
Robles was born with one leg and overcame a series of challenges to become an NCAA champ in 2010-11. The feature will mark the directorial debut of Oscar-winning editor Billy Goldenberg, known for his work on Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and more recently Detroit, which also starred Mitchell.
The Town and Captive State producer David Crockett and former Morgan Creek exec Andy Fraser (The Good Shepherd) are producing the film with Robles’ longtime manager Gary Lewis. The team is gearing up to shoot in first quarter of 2019.
The producers previously optioned Robles’ autobiography Unstoppable: From Underdog To Undefeated: How I Became A Champion. Published in 2012 by Penguin imprint Gotham Books, the book chronicles how Robles was born with one leg to a single parent family from the wrong side of the tracks to become an undefeated collegiate wrestling champion at Arizona State. Eric Champnella (Mr. 3000) wrote the first draft of the script and latest revisions have been overseen by John Hindman (The Answer Man).
Mitchell is currently shooting season two of Lena Waithe’s hit Showtime series The Chi and has feature The Mustang with Matthias Schoenaerts, Connie Britton and Bruce Dern coming up. Goldenberg most recently edited Paul Greengrass’s Venice Film Festival thriller 22 July.
Mitchell is repped by UTA, Authentic Talent and Literary Management, and Ziffren Brittenham. Goldenberg is repped by ICM.
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