This week, Variety revealed that Will Smith is going to star in a yet-to-be-named movie about concussions in the NFL. Based on the GQ article "Game Brain," the movie will be written and directed by Peter Landesman.
More from Variety:
The article was written by Jeanne Marie Laskas and follows Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Smith, the forensic neuropathologist who single-handedly made the first discovery of CTE in a professional football player and brought awareness to the public. Story is described as a whistle-blower tale in the vein of "The Insider" humanizing the price paid by professional athletes in impact sports -- and the political, cultural and corporate interests that fuel the business of professional sports.
Now is as good a time as any to make a movie about this. The NFL likely would have a hard time trying to get parties to pull out of a project like this one, as it has been accused of trying in the past. Between lawsuits about concussions and lawsuits about painkillers, the league faces a potential PR nightmare, and this movie will probably only underscore that.
It will be interesting to see who else is cast in this movie, but Will Smith as the lead is a pretty good choice.
H/t to [Variety]
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