ESPN Making Movie Based On Heavyweight Champ Johnson’s Life

ESPN will develop an original made-for-TV movie based on the life of boxer Jack Johnson, the first African-American world heavyweight champion. The movie, set to premiere in ’05, will be exec produced by Gerald Abrams and written by Paris Qualles (ESPN). ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Production Mark Shapiro: “I’ve wanted to make a movie about Jack Johnson for a number of years, but I was always scared off by the reputation of ‘The Great White Hope’ movie. But when I saw ‘Great White Hope’ recently, I realized how dated it is, and how much it needs to be contemporized and given more dramatic flair” (DAILY VARIETY, 12/23).

FREE PREVIEW: HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Andrew Wallenstein notes filmmaker Ken Burns is currently “taking his own documentary about [Johnson], ‘Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise & Fall of Jack Johnson,’ on the film festival circuit.” Burns’ film will air on PBS next month. Meanwhile, Abrams is also producing “Four Minutes,” a film for ESPN about Roger Bannister’s quest to break the four-minute mile barrier. The movie is “being shot for a summer airdate” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 12/23).