Lance Armstrong movie — “Give me rewrite!”

Considering how far Lance Armstrong’s star has fallen in recent weeks, I thought that the Armstrong biopic would have slid from the back burner to the trash bin.

Not so, says Hollywood producer Frank Marshall, who’s known for making the Jason Bourne and Indiana Jones movies. Interviewed by MTV recently, he said:

“Well, we’re recutting… Obviously it’s a sad end but we have some really interesting footage and a story to tell.. so we’re going to go for it…”

Of course, he’s been saying that for years, but there was always something ahead of the Armstrong film in the pipeline. Now, it’s the seventh film in the “Star Wars” saga.

Another problem has been finding a star to play the world renown cyclist and cancer survivor whose name has been removed from the official record books at the Tour de France. Matt Damon has often been mentioned as a choice, but he rejects the idea.

Again, from MTV:

“I was way too old ten years ago to play him. No, that ship sailed a while ago because of how old I was. I still think that story is remarkable and I’m sorry for what’s happened, but I have to say he’s done incredible things and he’s given a lot of people a lot of hope, he’s made a hell of an impact on a lot of lives and he raised a ton of money for cancer research. I love the guy.”

Right now, I’m having a little bit of a hard time envisioning how the Armstrong biopic would end.

Typically, the main character has early successes, only to fall victim to a huge obstacle — in Armstrong’s case cancer. Then, through hard work and strength of character, he achieves his goal and lives happily ever after.

This was the Hollywood ending for Armstrong until about a month ago, when his history of doping to enhance his performance on the bike made headlines.

Marshall was smart to not rush this project onto the big screen. He’d look pretty foolish now. Perhaps he’s going to wait for Armstrong to somehow redeem himself so he can have that Hollywood ending again.