Jamie Foxx shares update on long-awaited Mike Tyson biopic

Jamie Foxx has confirmed the long-awaited Mike Tyson biopic is still in the works.

The Oscar-winning star, 52, is set to play the former heavyweight champion boxer in a film about his controversial career.

Fans had been left worried by a lack of news on the project but Foxx has now reassured them the movie is being made.

Speaking on Instagram Live with Hollywood producer Mark Birnbaum, Foxx said: “It’s a definitive yes. Doing biographies is a tough thing. Sometimes it takes 20 years to get them done, but we officially got the real ball rolling.”

Foxx is no stranger to playing real-life figures, having won the best actor Academy Award for playing singer Ray Charles in the acclaimed 2004 biopic Ray.

He said he “can’t wait” to show the different sides of 53-year-old Tyson, who was one of the most feared fighters in boxing history before his career petered out due to out-of-the-ring distractions.

“We want to show everybody evolves,” Foxx said. “I think when we lay the layer of Mike Tyson in this story, I think everybody from young and old will be able to understand this man’s journey.”

Fox also spoke about his preparations for playing a heavyweight boxer.

He said: “Every other day, I do 60 pull-ups, we do 60 dips, we do 100 push-ups. I ain’t got no calf muscles, so we might have to get some prosthetics for that.”

Foxx also told the story of how he first met Tyson, about 30 years ago.

He said: “I met Mike Tyson in the weirdest way, I was on stage doing stand-up years ago. I get to my Mike Tyson joke and nobody claps, nobody laughs. You know why? Because Mike Tyson was watching.”