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[strafer]

Love me some Ben Foster.

Filming only began on October 18, and it doesn't yet have a title, but Stephen Frears' Lance Armstrong film - which we're going to go ahead and call Cycling Project for the moment, just as the studio does - has released a first image to show you what they're going for.

Unsurprisingly, they're focused on the man himself, with Ben Foster in costume and on his bike as Armstrong, the man who came back from cancer to win the Tour de France seven consecutive times, only to be stripped of those titles for his doping offences.

Chris O'Dowd plays Irish sports journalist David Walsh, who raised questions about Armstrong's performance long before the rest of the world began to follow suit. Jesse "Meth Damon" Plemons, of Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad fame, and Guillaume Canet will also appear; if we were guessing (and we are), we'd speculate that Plemons will be one of Armstrong's US Postal Service teammates and Canet a French rival. But that's blatant national stereotyping as their roles remain to be confirmed.

John Hodge, best known for his work with Danny Boyle, wrote the screenplay, and shooting should continue for the next few months into the early spring.

If you need a fix of cycling scandal in the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for a documentary background to the affair in Alex Gibney's The Armstrong Lie, recently screened at the LFF and due out here on January 31.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=39128

 

[Pagusas]

interesting, wonder how they will portray him, fallen hero or hypocritical scummbag.

 

[Kazenone]

He's the A-class version of Ryan Gosling

 

[Mononoke]

interesting, wonder how they will portray him, fallen hero or hypocritical scummbag.

Maybe the latter. I don't see why Hollywood would owe him anything. If anything, a lot of people in the industry were betrayed by his lies (since they endorsed him, and worshipped him). Plus, throwing people under the bus is a great way to make money (and in this case, he deserves it).

 

[Jobiensis]

I have no love for Armstrong, but if you are going to play him, you need to stop skipping leg day.

 

[neorej]

interesting, wonder how they will portray him, fallen hero or hypocritical scummbag.

The Great American Hero Who Had To Suffer For A Terrible Mistake

 

[VT_Brian]

Is Jesse Plemons going to play Floyd Landis?

 

[JDSN]

If playing this cunt gets Ben Foster the recognition he deserves then I hope this flick is a hit.

 

[triplestation]

Ben fostors eyes are fucling crazy

 

[Ninja Scooter]

It took a lot of ball to take this role.

 

[SJRB]

Why the FUCK is someone making a movie about this guy?

 

[WarLox]

Why the FUCK is someone making a movie about this guy?

Like when you clicked on a thread title that contained his name, other people are also interested in him.

 

[Vinci]

Why the FUCK is someone making a movie about this guy?

Because his story is interesting?

 

[harSon]

Seems like I'm an idiot! Don't know why I thought he was Lmao

 

[BowieZ]

Looks dope!

 

[SephCast]

Meth Damon!

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Ben Foster plays the best crazy people.

 

[iamblades]

I have no love for Armstrong, but if you are going to play him, you need to stop skipping leg day.

^^

 

[BowieZ]

Ben Foster plays the best crazy people.

Didn't he play a Neo Nazi at some point? Or was that Gosling? Or both?

 

[bengraven]

Wow, that's spot on.

 

[harSon]

Didn't he play a Neo Nazi at some point? Or was that Gosling? Or both?

They both did. Ryan Gosling in The Believer, and Ben Foster in Alpha Dog. Ryan Gosling played a Jewish Neo Nazi, and Ben Foster's a Jewish actor who was portraying a Neo Nazi.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Meth Damon!

+ Roy from IT Crowd

 

[Akahige]

they call him Meth Damons

wtf lol

 

[chris121580]

Awesome that he finally got a lead role! Good for him

 

[gofreak]

interesting, wonder how they will portray him, fallen hero or hypocritical scummbag.

The screenplay is apparently based on David Walsh's book, so I doubt it'll be very flattering.

 

[Escape Goat]

Never forget

 

[HiResDes]

I'm so used to him playing neurotic antagonists that I don't know what to expect. I mostly love his work though.

P.S. One weird similarity between Gosling and Foster is that they've both been cast as Neo-Nazis.

 

[minor effort]

I'm so used to him playing neurotic antagonists that I don't know what to expect. I mostly love his work though.

P.S. One weird similarity between Gosling and Foster is that they've both been cast as Neo-Nazis.

And Jesse Plemons is in this, who basically played one too.

 

[lil smoke]

He doesn't seem that important for a movie. he cheated, screwed the little Olsen girls , whatever.

 

[minor effort]

He doesn't seem that important for a movie. he cheated, screwed the little Olsen girls , whatever.

Movies never have complicated, ethically muddled central characters?

 

[OverBlood 3]

He doesn't seem that important for a movie. he cheated, screwed the little Olsen girls , whatever.

Not once did he transform into a robot.

 

[Timedog]

I have no love for Armstrong, but if you are going to play him, you need to stop skipping leg day.

lolwut. cyclists don't have huge bodybuilder legs. size looks fine, although a real cyclist would probably be more cut at around that size.

 

[huxley00]

Never forget

Loved that show

 

[Jobiensis]

lolwut. cyclists don't have huge bodybuilder legs. size looks fine, although a real cyclist would probably be more cut at around that size.

lolwut, nobody said anything about body builders (although Greipel disagrees). He looks like a 30 something CPA that just got his first road bike on a Sunday ride to pick up some Twinkies. You see better tone at most local Cat 5 races.