The Weinstein Co. is in talks with Forest Whitaker to star in the upcoming sports drama Patriots. The studio is also in negotiations with Tim Story to direct the film – which is scheduled to start shooting in April.
Forest Whitaker - The 19th Annual IFP Independent Spirit Awards - IFC-Target After Party - Shutters on the Beach - Santa Monica, CA © Glenn Harris / Photorazzi
Variety reports the film would see Whitaker reteam with TWC and Patriots screenwriter Robert Eisele (who also wrote The Great Debaters). The studio also hopes to have the film in theaters by the Thanksgiving season.
In the film, Whitaker would take the role of Al Collins - the basketball coach for John Ehret High in Marrero, La. Collins led his Patriots team to the state championship a year after Katrina devastated the school and displaced many of its students.
Collins' team was made up of 10 players who attended five different schools before the disaster. Patriots will be the first film to have a firm start date as a result of an interim agreement made between the WGA and an independent studio.
Both Story and Whitaker are available to start on the film – which would allow it to complete shooting before the expiration of the SAG contract in June.
Patriots is set to be produced by IAM Entertainment's Raymond Brothers and Scott Glassgold, and Story. Brothers optioned the coach's life rights and worked on the film’s script with Story and Eisele.
In Variety, Story stated: "I've gotten caught up with the 'Fantastic Four' films but wanted to find a smaller film with heart, that brought me back to 'Barbershop,' and this has come together with one of the best actors out there," Story said. "What Coach Collins did to give back the lives of his players is so inspiring."
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