Back in July, we reported that actor Jamie Foxx signed on to star in Paramount's Untitled Mike Tyson Biopic, with Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter signing on to write the screenplay. We haven't heard anything about this biopic since then, but during a radio interview with Power 105's The Breakfast Club, Jamie Foxx revealed that Martin Scorsese has come aboard to direct. Take a look at what the actor had to say below.
"I just went in with Paramount with Mike Tyson. So I'm going to do the Mike Tyson story. Listen, to be in the same room pitching Mike Tyson to Paramount, Mike Tyson is on one side, I'm on the other side and doing Mike Tyson at the same time. And Martin Scorsese at the helm. This will be the first boxing movie that Martin Scorsese has done since Raging Bull."
Paramount has yet to confirm the news, but if it's true, this would reunite Martin Scorsese with his The Wolf of Wall Street screenwriter Terence Winter. Mike Tyson himself teased in a July 2014 interview with IGN that Martin Scorsese will be involved, and that they plan to use the same performance capture techniques from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, that would allow Jamie Foxx to play Iron Mike from the early stages of his career to present day.
In 1987, at just 20 years of age, Mike Tyson became the youngest undisputed heavyweight champion in boxing history. He successfully defended his titles nine times until he suffered a shocking knockout loss at the hands of James "Buster" Douglas in 1990. The boxer was convicted of rape in 1992 and was sentenced to serve six years in prison, but he was released after only three years. He managed to retain his WBA and WBC titles in 1996, but he was stripped of his WBC title and lost the WBA belt to Evander Holyfield in November 1996. Their 1997 rematch was marred with controversy, after Mike Tyson bit a portion of Evander Holyfield's ear off. Mike Tyson retired with a professional record of 50 wins (44 by knockout), six losses and two no-contests. Michael Jai White previously portrayed the boxer in the 1995 HBO biopic Tyson. Take a look at Jamie Foxx's radio interview below, with the Mike Tyson portion coming at the 8:15 mark.