LOS ANGELES, June 11 — Variety reports that Sam Rockwell—who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2018 for his performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri—is in final talks to star in The Ballad of Richard Jewell, a film initially set up at Fox several years ago.
The movie, inspired by a Vanity Fair article written by Marie Brenner, has been in development for around five years. Back in 2014, Fox had originally signed up Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill to the project, which tells the true story of Richard Jewell during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Today, several years down the line, the pair still have production roles but will not star in The Ballad of Richard Jewell, which is now with Warner Bros.
In 1996, Richard Jewell was working as a security guard. While the global sporting event was being held in the US city, he discovered an abandoned backpack containing a homemade pipe bomb. Jewell raised the alarm and helped evacuate Atlanta’s Centennial Park. However, the bomb exploded, killing two and injuring 110. After first being hailed a hero, Richard Jewell became a possible suspect in the attack, before finally being cleared.
Sam Rockwell would reportedly play the attorney defending Richard Jewell.
The Ballad of Richard Jewell will be directed by Clint Eastwood, his first feature film since 2018’s “The Mule.” — AFP-Relaxnews
