“Lord of the Rings” producer Mark Ordesky is developing with DeVon Franklin and Sony Pictures a biopic revolving around embattled football player Casey Therriault.
Ordesky disclosed the project Thursday during a panel session at Variety‘s Purpose Summit focusing on family and faith-based entertainment. Ordesky said the pic is tentatively tiled “The White Tiger.” Ben Younger (“The Boiler Room”) has written the script and will direct.
Project tells the story of the promising collegiate football prospect whose life was shattered after a bar fight landed him in prison in 2008. After serving a six-month sentence, a historically African-American college, Jackson State, in Mississippi gave the quarterback, who is white, a second chance at football and at life.
Ordesky and Jane Fleming of Court Five are producing with Franklin and Bobby Smith of Ashore Entertainment.
Last year Franklin segued from his exec post at Sony Pictures to a first-look deal as a producer. He’s known for focusing on films with a strong faith-based component.
