Stage and Screen Vet Anthony Mackie to Star as Sprinter Jesse Owens in Upcoming Passion Project?

Deadline writes that stage and screen actor Anthony Mackie is looking to play Olympic sprinter Jesse Owens in an upcoming passion project with writer/producer Jamie Linden (We Are Marshall) and scribe George Olson.

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Jesse Owens took home four gold metals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which "infuriated and demoralized Adolf Hitler and put the lie to his theory that the Germans were the superior race".

The movie will focus on Owens preparing for the games and his impact on society and the world in the midst of blatant racism and social turmoil.

This isn't the only Jesse Owens pic in the works. Disney is moving forward on a biopic based on the book Triumph by Jeremy Schaap, adapted by David Seidler; and Stephan James will star as Owens in a film helmed by Stephen Hopkins for Focus Features.

Mackie's upcoming big screen projects include Triple Nine, Shelter and A Many Splintered Thing. He most recently appeared in the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Among his past film credits are Runner Runner, The Fifth Estate, Gangster Squad, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Real Steel, The Hurt Locker, We Are Marshall, Million Dollar Baby and more.

The actor starred on Broadway in 2010's A Behanding in Spokane, 2004's Drowning Crow and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in 2003. He also appeared in The 24 Hour Plays for five editions of the event. His off-Broadway credits include The Bacchae, A Soldier's Play and McReele.

Photo Credit: BEImages