We're still waiting for director Stephen Frears' latest film, Philomena, to hit theaters, but already we're getting our first look at the filmmaker's next work. Production on Frears' upcoming biopic about infamous cyclist Lance Armstrong began at the end of last week and today, courtesy of Empire, we have our first look at star Ben Foster in full costume as the movie's subject.
Foster first became attached to the project back in July, and now we know that he is surrounded in the film by a stellar supporting cast. Chris O'Dowd, who is best known for his work in Bridesmaids and will soon have a small role in Thor: The Dark World, will portray David Walsh, the Irish sports journalist who began to suspect early on that Armstrong was using performance enhancing drugs. Jesse Plemons, who earned widespread acclaim for his performance in the final season of Breaking Bad, is predicted to be playing one of Armstrong's cycling teammates, while Love Me If You Dare's Guillaume Canet is expected to be one of Armstrong's rivals. John Hodge, best known for his collaborations with director Danny Boyle on films like Trainspotting, The Beach and Trance, is handling the script.
Studios have been trying to get a Lance Armstrong movie off of the ground ever since the seven time Tour de France admitted that he cheated. In addition to Frears' film, director Jay Roach is attached to direct a version of the story called Red Blooded American, while J.J. Abrams and the folks over at Bad Robot are also planning a take. Beating them all to the punch, however, is director Alex Gibney, who filmed a documentary about the scandal, titled The Armstrong Lie, that will be getting a limited release starting November 8th. It has already premiered at multiple film festivals, including Venice, Toronto, Hamptons and London, and you can watch the trailer for the movie below:
Frears' Lance Armstrong biopic doesn't have a release date just yet, but we can probably expect it some time next year. In the meantime, Frears' Philomena will be arriving in theaters just in time for Thanksgiving on November 27th. The film tells the story of a political journalist (Steve Coogan) who works to help an aging woman ?(Dame Judi Dench) reconnect with the child that was taken away from her decades earlier:
