After years of waiting Jamie Foxx has confirmed that his Mike Tyson biopic is finally moving forward.
5 years ago, I had the fortune of seeing a Jamie Foxx interview on Hot 97, in this interview he pitched the opening scene to his Mike Tyson biopic. His vivid description of the time-hopping scene transitions as we see a mature Tyson flashback into his glory days is enough to give anyone the chills.
If there are two things (apart from acting and singing) Jamie Foxx is good at, its impressions and storytelling. His ability to play real-life characters, mimicking their subtle mannerisms and voice is nothing short of uncanny. His portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic Ray is proof that this is a skill that he has no problem transferring to the big screen.
If there’s an impression that Foxx is well known for it’s his Tyson impression. It’s definitely one he’s fond of showcasing. And as you can see in the clip below he does it well (honestly check this clip out the pitch is mind-blowing)
This clip raised a lot of excitement amongst fans and left a lot of us hanging on for years. But sadly, this was the last we heard of any progress from Jamie Foxx’s Mike Tyson Biopic. That is until recently when Foxx appeared on Mike Birnbaum’s Instagram series Catching Up (what world is this) and confirmed that the movie is finally becoming a reality.
The Evolution of Mike Tyson
In this interview, Foxx confirmed the project was making progress saying, “It’s a definitive yes. Look, doing biographies is a tough thing. Sometimes it takes 20 years to get them done. But we officially got the real ball rolling. We want to show everybody evolves.”
Judging by Foxx’s comments during this interview and also his description of the opening scene in his original interview on Hot 97, this movie’s main objective is to show the evolution of Mike Tyson from a troubled youth thrust into the spotlight to a mature, gentle man content with a simpler life away from the spotlight.
Foxx told Mike, “I think when we lay the layers on Mike Tyson in this story, I think everybody from young and old will be able to understand this man’s journey, I got to see Mike in two different ways, two different lives. I saw him at the height of his career and then when things got bad, things got bumpy, I also saw him as well, so what I’m excited about the movie is to show those moments of the different Mike.”
To prepare for the role he’s been doing 60 pull-ups, 60 dips and 100 push-ups every other day. He also said that technology will play a big role in making him look like Tyson replicating his facial features and his one of a kind physique.
Foxx is so confident in his process that he joked “I guarantee you, people will run up on me in the street and ask for an autograph and think that I’m Mike”.
It’s unknown when the movie will begin shooting or when we can expect to get a release date but with Foxx spearheading this whirlwind of a story there’s no doubt that this will be something worth waiting for.
