Controversy and scandal is not only an everyday occurrence in the United States, but apparently something the public craves and even demands. Be it a sex scandal, a drug scandal, or a who killed who and why scandal, there are plenty of stories the media outlets can juice for weeks with everyone glued to their TV sets as though the world is coming to an end.

Last year, the world got a treat when it was revealed that during his reign in the sport of competitive bicycle racing, in which he won seven Tour De France’s, Lance Armstrong was on performance enhancement drugs, continued to lie about it (even in court), and defrauded the government and dozens of people close to the athlete. Needless to say, Armstrong pissed off a lot of people and the man who stood for a symbol of cancer survival and awareness, promoting his Livestrong brand that gave millions to cancer research. There wasn’t a point in the past ten years, where each of us didn’t have one of those yellow wristbands dangling off our hands.

Alas, how quickly we forget such scandals, only to have ourselves reminded of them when they’re adapted into Lifetime TV movies or a 60 Minutes special. However, with this instance, The Armstrong Scandal is being brought to the big screen with two different projects being fast tracked to hit the theaters first.

Deadline reports that Bradley Cooper, along with Warner Brothers and Atlas Entertainment are producing a biopic about Armstrong called Red Blooded American. The film will feature two major roles- Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton. Hamilton is Armstrong’s former Postal Service teammate who broke the news of Lance’s doping, and eventually led to the downfall of the disgraced hero. With Cooper producing, there’s a big chance he will also be starring, but in which role has not yet been announced. Scott Z. Burns (Side Effects) is working on the screenplay and Jay Roach (Game Change) is set to direct.

The news breaking is even more interesting because Working Title has their own Armstrong feature in the works, with Stephen Frears (The Queen) directing the incredibly underrated Ben Foster as Armstrong, with a script by John Hodge (Trainspotting).

Who knew that a story so “fresh” in the news would have such a high profile race (pun intended) to the theaters?

Which project sounds more interesting to you? Would you like to see Cooper as Armstrong? Please leave your thoughts below.

Written By Nick Nick is a man obsessed with all things related to film. From the most obscure to the very popular, he’s seen it all and hopes to one day turn his obsession into a career that makes a lot of money so he can buy a monkey, a bulldog, and a full size Batman suit.



