The Wolverine helmer James Mangold is in talks to helm Fox 2000’s big screen biopic of NFL quarterback Joe Namath, according to a story today at The Hollywood Reporter. Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, who worked with Mangold on 3:10 to Yuma, are providing the screenplay.
While other quarterbacks racked up bigger lifetime stats, Namath became the first football player to achieve rock-star status. The film will tell the story of how the golden-armed kid from Beaver Falls, Pa., became “Broadway Joe,” the New York Jets quarterback and ’60s cultural figure.
Mangold’s name was, some years ago, connected to a different big screen take on Namath set up at Universal. That project, which had Jake Gyllenhaal attached to headline, was scripted by David Hollander.
Producers on the biopic include Fox 2000’s Elizabeth Gabler and Tree Line Films’ Cathy Konrad and Andrew Lazar.
