Robert De Niro is attached to play legendary coach Vince Lombardi in the feature film Lombardi being developed by ESPN Films, Andell Entertainment and the NFL.
Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Forrest Gump) is set to write the script for the film, which will chronicle Lombardi during the years he transformed the Green Bay Packers from the worst team in the National Football League into five-time NFL champions.
Current plans call for the film’s release on the weekend between the AFC and NFC Conference Championships and the Super Bowl in 2012.
The story’s narrative arc spans from 1959 when Lombardi was given his first opportunity to be an NFL head coach, taking over the small-town Packers, then the worst team in the NFL, and runs through his transformation of a group of young, talented but undisciplined losers into five-time NFL champions. Also, the story highlights the long-standing rivalry that existed between Lombardi and legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, both of whom were assistants on the New York Giants team that lost the 1958 NFL Championship game.
