Justin Chadwick is in talks to direct the still-untitled Johnnie Cochran movie starring Anthony Mackie, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
Mackie will star as Cochran in the movie focusing on the wrongful death case of college football player Ron Settles, who was found severely beaten and hanging in his cell after he was arrested in 1981. Cochran, however, is best known for representing O.J. Simpson in his murder case in 1995.
“It’s a huge opportunity,” Mackie told TheWrap about the role in May. “People know Johnnie Cochran as the O.J. lawyer, but Cochran changed the face of civil dissent, he brought theatrics to the courtroom. It’s a honor to be able to play him.”
Robbie Brenner, Jason Spire and Kevin McKein are producing alongside Mackie.
Chadwick directed 2013’s “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” starring Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela. He also directed “The Other Boleyn Girl” and “Tulip Fever.”
Chadwick is represented by UTA.