The Jesse Owens biopic "Race" has a release date of April 8, 2016, Focus Features announced.
Stephan James ("When The Game Stands Tall") will now be the one to play the lead role. Earlier this year, it was announced that John Boyega will play as Jesse Owens.
Entertainment Weekly said that Oscar award-winning actor William Hurt joins as he plays Jeremiah Mahoney, president of the Amateur Athletic Union who led the movement to boycott the 1936 Berlin Olympics against Adolf Hitler. Other cast includes Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, and Carice van Houten.
According to Indiewire, the main story tackles on how Owens, smashed Hitler's myth of Aryan domination during the Berlin Olympics when he won a record of four gold medals in four categories - 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump, and the 400-meter relay. Hitler tried to ban black and Jewish athletes from the Games but backpedaled as he faced a threat of boycott.
Owens' triumphs are the greatest athletic feats of all time.
"Race" will be directed by Stephen Hopkins, who previously helmed "Ghost and the Darkness", "24", "Under Suspicion", "House Lies", and "Californication".
Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse wrote the screenplay. Producers are Luc Dayan, Jean Charles Levy, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Kate Garwood, Thierry Potok, Karsten Brunig, Dominique Seguin, and Hopkins. Executive producers are Ben Grass, Christophe Charlier, Bonnie Timmermann, Scott Kennedy, Jonathan Bronfman, Al Munteanu, George Acogny, and Nicholas Manuel.
Mister Smith Entertainment will distribute the Jesse Owens biopic internationally. Square One has the rights to release it in Germany while it's Entertainment One in Canada.
Shooting locations included the site of the stadium during Berlin Olympics.
The people or the production behind Jesse Owens biopic will not have future issues to deal with compared to other life stories because "Race" is supported by Jesse Owens Foundation, Jesse Owens Trust, and more important, the US sprinter's family.
