News
Will Smith Set To Star In Ridley-Scott Produced Concussion Film
Will Smith in 2011
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Late last year word got out that filmmaker Ridley Scott (Prometheus, Alien, Blade Runner) would be helming a feature film focused on brain injuries in professional sports. Scott has since moved into the role of producer, and we have learned the film will be based on the GQ article “Game Brain”. Today, we also learned who the star attached to the Scott-produced feature film about concussions may be.
According to Variety, Will Smith is set to star as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the focus of the article written by Jeanne Marie Laskas. Malu is the forensic neuropathologist who singularly identified the first case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a professional football player. He is also credited with starting the fight to bring CTE to public awareness.
Currently, the film seems poised to aim to humanize the price professional athletes pay for glory in high-impact sports, as well as bringing much of the political and corporate dealings which influenced how the NFL responded to these findings.
Ridley’s film will be just one of many films bringing the concussion problem in professional sports to the big screen. Parkes/MacDonald Productions are working on a project based on the book and subsequent Frontline documentary “League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions, And The Battle For Truth” while Isiah Washington is set to star in an indie drama entitled “Game Time Decision”.
