It was only a matter of time before a studio turned the biopic lens on disgraced cycling champion, Lance Armstrong, and it appears that the upcoming film, The Program, will cross the finish line first in the race to theaters. The first trailer for the film, which casts 3:10 to Yuma and Pandorum actor Ben Foster as the cycling legend, arrived online this week.
The previously untitled project appears to be sprinting to theaters, as the trailer’s debut also served as the official announcement of the film’s title, and was accompanied by the first look at Foster as Armstrong and the first poster for the film.
Based on David Walsh’s book Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong, the film casts Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd, Bridesmaids) as Walsh, the journalist whose assertion that Armstrong was using performance-enhancing drugs was dismissed for years, and whose persistent investigation eventually led to the truth about the cyclist’s success. Ostracized by his peers, Walsh finds himself engaging in a battle to expose an athlete revered by fans — many of them in the cycling press — who neither want nor believe Walsh’s accusations to be true.
Foster and O’Dowd are joined in the cast by Dustin Hoffman, Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Fall), Guillaume Canet (Tell No One), and Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad).
The Program is directed by two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stephen Frears (The Grifters, The Queen, High Fidelity), and is based on a screenplay penned by Trainspotting and The Beach screenwriter John Hodge.
There’s currently no U.S. release date scheduled for the film, which premieres later this year in France, Germany, and Sweden. Given the subject matter and cast, however, an American release date is almost certain to be announced in the near future.
