Jamie Foxx’s Mike Tyson project is finally moving forward.
The Oscar-winning actor will step into the ring as the boxing legend in a new authorized limited series. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) has signed on to direct, with Martin Scorsese as executive producer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the drama will “span the life” of Tyson. The project, which had been in the works as a movie titled Finding Mike, is now being shopped to various streaming outlets and networks.
“I have been looking to tell my story for quite some time,” Tyson said in a statement. “With the recent launch of Legends Only League and the excitement from fans following my return to the ring, now feels like the perfect moment. I look forward to collaborating with Martin, Antoine, Jamie and the entire creative team to bring audiences a series that not only captures my professional and personal journey but also inspires and entertains.”
Foxx has been attached to the role since at least 2014, but there were doubts that the project would ever be made. Last summer, he showed off the results of the physical transformation he was undergoing to play the former heavyweight boxing champ.
“Doing biographies is a tough thing. Sometimes it takes 20 years to get it done but we officially got the real ball rolling,” Foxx told his friend Mark Birnbaum last year. “I can’t wait to show people what it is.”
The announcement comes on the heels of Hulu announcing its own limited series, Iron Mike, which Tyson previously slammed as a “tone-deaf cultural misappropriation of my life story.”