The Massachusetts-born Marciano is the only heavyweight boxer to retire from his professional career undefeated at 49-0, which included 43 knockouts.
The boxing legend’s younger brother, Lou Marciano, gave producer Morris S. Levy rights to the film back in 2007, according to The Hollywood Reporter (via Boston.com). Expect the film to depict Marciano from diapers to the ring, following the boxer “from his blue-collar upbringing in Brockton to his 1969 death in a plane crash,” according to the publication. The report claims Lou Marciano gave Levy “never-before-revealed details about the boxer’s life, including his relationship with his wife and father” for the film.
The Marciano family has said it hopes the upcoming film would set the record straight on the life of the boxer who held the heavyweight crown from 1952 to 1956. Rocky Marciano’s story had previously been told in two unauthorized docs: the Tony Lo Bianco-starring 1979 ABC TV movie Marciano and the 1999 Jon Favreau-starring Showtime movie Rocky Marciano. “They didn’t have any similarities to my brother,” said Lou Marciano. “He was a very restless, impatient man – very curious and bright, not your typical fighter from the streets.”
In addition to Renner’s Oscar nominated role in the 2008 film The Hurt Locker, the 44 year-old actor has played superhero Hawkeye in multiple films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and will be in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War.
Samuel Franco and Evan Kilgore wrote the upcoming Rocky Marciano biopic, which is still looking for a director.