Road Cycling - Matt Damon to play Armstrong in upcoming movie

More late breaking news from Smoothie.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30500-13171422,00.html


Matt Damon is getting himself in shape to play cycling superman Lance Armstrong in an upcoming biopic.

Matt's latest film, The Bourne Supremacy, rocketed to the top of the US box office on Sunday.


He is now in negotiations to play the Tour de France champion in producer Frank Marshall's new project.

The film is set for release in 2006, and Damon admitted he needed to get in shape.

He said of the fitness required for the new film: "That would be a whole new level."


Armstrong is most famous for recovering from testicular cancer and subsequently winning the Tour de France six consecutive times.

His victories between 1999 and 2004 give him more wins than any other cyclist to date.

Armstrong has been subject to allegations that he took performance-enhancing drugs.

But he has never failed a test for banned drugs, and denies that he used them at any time.




I hope hollywood does't go over the top and make this movie really stupid. Damon better get his ass in shape too, I hope they use some real footage, and have Phil and Paul doing some narration. Maybe even a cameo by Bobke....

This could be really entertaining, or it could be a really sad case of flag waving with sugary sweet CBS-style music in the background with clips of people with tears in their eyes and hands over their mouths.

That's just gross. Will Matt gain 6" and lose 25 #?

i would like to see more of a struggle with lots of him training. i do think matt can make a good lance. sorta similar facial structure.

i have a feeling they are going to incorporacte more of a love strory vibe. like, he will get cancer and lance and his wife will try to stay together but it's all too difficult and they break up and he goes out with crow.

maybe even some doping stuff will occur.

damon's actually capable of losing the weight...he did it for that movie with meg ryan and denzel. This might not be bad (miracle) or it might be terrible (ali) ... they should just use the lance chronicles and the OLN tour footage and make a documentary (when we were kings)

He'd have to lose 100lbs.

I hope he gets his legs in some sort of shape. I remember Kevin Costner
in American Flyers having those skinny/flabby legs, and occasionally
there would be a close-up of what were supposed to be his legs whilst on the
bike, but they were obviously NOT his pins -- they had a 'stand in' leg man with muscles :D

Yeah, like back in 2000 when they were taking actovegin, and got busted throwing the packages away 60 miles from the hotel.

Somehow I don't think that will make the final edit.

I gotta admit, I think it's about time this movie was made, if not a little late. I hope that it sends out a good vibe for cycling to those that see it.

hopefully there would be a lot of cameo apparences by real cyclists. i would hate to see an entire peloton of hollywood stars.

He'd have to lose 100lbs.

I hope he gets his legs in some sort of shape. I remember Kevin Costner
in American Flyers having those skinny/flabby legs, and occasionally
there would be a close-up of what were supposed to be his legs whilst on the
bike, but they were obviously NOT his pins -- they had a 'stand in' leg man with muscles :D


yeah, and they had everyone spinning at like 110 rpm in the little ring, but in the drops so it looked like they were hauling ass.... funny sutff.

I hope matt damon enjoys working off all that weight in a year

So who plays Jan Ullrich ?

jeff

So who plays Jan Ullrich ?

jeff

his buddy ben affleck?

his buddy ben affleck?

he would need to put on a few pounds... :p

i would go with David Hasselhoff.

his buddy ben affleck?

ashton kutcher. His career's a joke now too.


ohhhhhhhh burn......

his buddy ben affleck?


No way! They'd have to get someone good looking!

How about Barry Pepper as Jan ?

How about Barry Pepper as Jan ?

nice call. Barry would have to put on the weight that Matt loses. Will Matt do EPO?


part of the making of that movie will probably be called "Shaving Private Ryan"

Robin Williams playing himself, and also starring Elijah Woods as Tyler Hamilton.

Maybe Louie Anderson would make a good Jan.

I found the movie poster already :D

Jeff

Who will play Crow?

^ :roflmao:

I was just thinking about this the other day. If they were going to make a movie about Lance's life, I would prefer a dark comedy/ drama about a character loosely based on a Lance/ Greg LeMond composite that chronicles his comeback from near death to superstardom, with satirical depictions of all of the endorsement deals, commercials, posters, and a feature film, then his career comes to an abrupt and ironic end due to a sex scandal with a Make-A-Wish kid or a drunken bike accident. Pure Hollywood gold.

I found the movie poster already :D

Jeff

Oh, gawd....I don't see Lance in that photo. I see Matt Damon in funny, uncharacteristic clothes. I need much more convincing...

Oh, gawd....I don't see Lance in that photo. I see Matt Damon in funny, uncharacteristic clothes. I need much more convincing...


hehe yeah I pretty much just grabbed the first 2 pics I thought would work together.. the lighting is all wrong though...

BELIEVE IT ! :D

jeff

Robin Williams playing himself, and also starring Elijah Woods as Tyler Hamilton.


HAHHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! awesome!!!

How about Robin Williams playing Bob Roll?

Pamela Lee as Cheryl Crowe?

Seriously, I hope it is an excellent film.

Funny this should come up I just cut a story on Matt talking about he and Marshall getting this project made. Personally the vibe I got from MD was that it was going to be more about his battle with cancer than about the TDF.

Sounds like a made for tv movie

man..
a movie like that could be so bad.

who's to direct?

that's the problem with movies about athletes: the focus and dedication and talent that it takes and the way that part of it plays out is not good drama.

the cancer story is way more theatrical and is just the kind of thing hollywood would want to have as a centerpiece, but still... i'd have to say that movies like that generally don't do anything for me - made for tv triumph of the human spirit stuff.

Brian's Song comes to mind....

By the way, does anyone find it somewhat interesting that "American Flyers" was constructed around a personal crisis where Costner's character is facing a terminal illness. A horrible movie but some great dialog; "Let's real him in" ... "yeah". How about the Russian with the heavy full beard!

As for characters, the OLN cast offer some intersting options if you were doing a spoof:
Bob Roll could play himself but Robin Williams would be a hoot in that roll
John Cleese gets my vote for Paul Sherwin
Gilbert Godfrey for Phil Liggett
Chevy Chase for Al Trautwig
Pamela Anderson or Dolly Parton for the '04 version of Kirsten, aka "mother juggs" Gumm
Andy Kauffman's Latka character would have worked great for Chris Carmichael

More late breaking news from Smoothie.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30500-13171422,00.html


Matt Damon is getting himself in shape to play cycling superman Lance Armstrong in an upcoming biopic.

Matt's latest film, The Bourne Supremacy, rocketed to the top of the US box office on Sunday.


He is now in negotiations to play the Tour de France champion in producer Frank Marshall's new project.

The film is set for release in 2006, and Damon admitted he needed to get in shape.

He said of the fitness required for the new film: "That would be a whole new level."


Armstrong is most famous for recovering from testicular cancer and subsequently winning the Tour de France six consecutive times.

His victories between 1999 and 2004 give him more wins than any other cyclist to date.

Armstrong has been subject to allegations that he took performance-enhancing drugs.

But he has never failed a test for banned drugs, and denies that he used them at any time.




I hope hollywood does't go over the top and make this movie really stupid. Damon better get his ass in shape too, I hope they use some real footage, and have Phil and Paul doing some narration. Maybe even a cameo by Bobke....


*groan*

So who plays Jan Ullrich ?

jeff
There is only one person that could play Jan, and thats no other than ARNOLD Schwartznegger (Last name spelling)
and he can say his motto "I'll be back"
:D

There is only one person that could play Jan, and thats no other than ARNOLD Schwartznegger (Last name spelling)
and he can say his motto "I'll be back"
:D
Arnold already has the accent, may not be German, but who would know :)

Come on, we have to somehow throw in Stallone. Maybe as Voelker (?sp), the French rookie that did so well. And Mr. T. Maybe Mr. T as Jan Ullrich. Most people wouldn't even think twice that Ullrich looked any different.

I wonder if Damon does any riding now..Or will he have to learn how to use STI shifters and adjust to clipless bike shoes.

So who plays Jan Ullrich ?

jeff

Rainier Wolfcastle

http://www.carleton.edu/curricular/MEDA/classes/media110/Cho/wolfcastle.html

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE CHOICE!!!!!

But then again I can't think of any actors who could come even close to filling LA's shoes in a movie.

Anyway, I vote for Jean Claude Van Damme to play Jan Ullrich and Mango from SNL to play Marco Pantani.

Anyway, I think this movie will be more about his cancer struggle than bike racing.

Also, Matt Damon is older than LA!!!



More late breaking news from Smoothie.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30500-13171422,00.html


Matt Damon is getting himself in shape to play cycling superman Lance Armstrong in an upcoming biopic.

Matt's latest film, The Bourne Supremacy, rocketed to the top of the US box office on Sunday.


He is now in negotiations to play the Tour de France champion in producer Frank Marshall's new project.

The film is set for release in 2006, and Damon admitted he needed to get in shape.

He said of the fitness required for the new film: "That would be a whole new level."


Armstrong is most famous for recovering from testicular cancer and subsequently winning the Tour de France six consecutive times.

His victories between 1999 and 2004 give him more wins than any other cyclist to date.

Armstrong has been subject to allegations that he took performance-enhancing drugs.

But he has never failed a test for banned drugs, and denies that he used them at any time.




I hope hollywood does't go over the top and make this movie really stupid. Damon better get his ass in shape too, I hope they use some real footage, and have Phil and Paul doing some narration. Maybe even a cameo by Bobke....

am I the only one that thinks this is a terrible idea. Movies about athletes who are still actively participating in their sport can only be made for TV movies. The ability for a film to be successful is based on the viewers ability to suspend reality and "believe" in what is playing out on the screen in front of them. When we see LA tossing out tag lines on TV ads every day that makes it difficult. Not mention that they are getting a hight profile actor to play the role. Who will be able to forget that it's Matt Damon on the screen? They should get a lesser known actor to play him and if they want to use star power to get people in the seats, then cast big names in supporting roles. Also, I imagine that if LA is till racing in 2006, they will have the opening of this film coincide with whatever big event LA is doing, which will mean he is on more people's minds, but it also means that we will be seeing the real LA day in and day out, thus making it that much harder to immerse ourselves into "fake" Lance on the screen.

I for one think this is terrible and despite being a huge Lance fan will not be going to see it. This film needs to come out in 10 years. Right now they should be making a movie about the life of Merckx or Lemond. (I know, no one in America would see it, but I'm simply refering to the timing.)

Give Damon two years..Think he can become a viable LA? Might be good for the sport to develop another Robin Williams. Doubt Damon will charge up Mt. Ventoux with the power of LA with a two year lead.
In fact with two years..Maybe Damon won't even be able to approach Ventoux from the toughest grade.

hehe yeah I pretty much just grabbed the first 2 pics I thought would work together.. the lighting is all wrong though...

BELIEVE IT ! :D

jeff


Oh! I thought that was the actual movie promo! You did a good jobm especially for on the fly photo editing...I was just thinking it was a serious promo ad...

Oh! I thought that was the actual movie promo! You did a good jobm especially for on the fly photo editing...I was just thinking it was a serious promo ad...

I spend all day (when not shooting pictures) screwing around in photoshop... I think I threw that all together in about 15 minutes :-)

jeff

hmm..Matt Damon as LA? Can't buy that yet...I would find Kevin Bacon more believable (although he might be a little old now)

For some reason I really feel
Sean Astin should be in this movie.

Bob Roll can be played by Will Ferrel! Both of them are crazy and no matter what Ferrel does it is hilarious. Danny Devito could play rudy pevenage, short bald guy. Dolph Lundgren, the russian stallone, could be jan, he's tall. Has a russian accent though. Or maybe just use jan, sounds like he might not have a team next year...hahaha. Antonio Banderas could be Mayo.

^ :roflmao:

I was just thinking about this the other day. If they were going to make a movie about Lance's life, I would prefer a dark comedy/ drama about a character loosely based on a Lance/ Greg LeMond composite that chronicles his comeback from near death to superstardom, with satirical depictions of all of the endorsement deals, commercials, posters, and a feature film, then his career comes to an abrupt and ironic end due to a sex scandal with a Make-A-Wish kid or a drunken bike accident. Pure Hollywood gold.
Staring wham bam van dam as Greg Armstrong. Of course then they would have to work in some retired coach that does things 'the old way'(ie Kickboxer and the flashbacks in Bloodsport), and Van dam would have to make the obligitory smack downs on punks during his training rides, somehow working the splits into it. :lol:

Well, the movie may or may not suck.

But think of the bloopers & outtakes.........

This could be really entertaining, or it could be a really sad case of flag waving with sugary sweet CBS-style music in the background with clips of people with tears in their eyes and hands over their mouths.

I hear the plot is Armstrong cycling across the middle east looking for weapons of mass destruction.

Two years for a whole crew of actors to even begin to look like Lance Armstrong after 15 years of training...Think you can get a whole crew of actors to dedicate that kind of time, to even look like a professional cyclist... Pretty presumptious...Of course someone tried to look like Ali.
Think they better get some professional cyclist to dub for Daymon and say Affleck..Will the actors have that kind of dedication to work like that to even approach the stregnth of Armstrong.?

Rainier Wolfcastle

http://www.carleton.edu/curricular/MEDA/classes/media110/Cho/wolfcastle.html


DOHHH!!!!!!