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Friday, Jan 18, 2013 7:30 PM UTC

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot to produce Lance Armstrong biopic

The production company has purchased the screen rights to "Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong"

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Topics: Lance Armstrong, biopic, jj abrams, Cycling, Tour de France, Doping, performance enhancing drugs,

J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot to produce Lance Armstrong biopic (Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Hot on the heels of the disgraced cyclist’s confession, Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot, the production company co-owned by legendary director J.J. Abrams and producer Bryan Burk, have acquired the screen rights to the story about the fall of American hero Lance Armstrong, reports Deadline.

Unlike Bad Robots’ typically sci-fi cache, the Armstrong pic probably won’t include aliens or time travel. Instead, the movie will be based on the proposal for “Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong,” a HarperCollins book to be written by New York Times sports reporter Juliet Macur, who has covered Armstrong’s career throughout his tragic downfall.

This isn’t the first Armstrong biopic to get attention, however: Sony Pictures has been rumored to be working on one for years, one that painted the cyclist as a celebrated hero. Of the competing productions, Deadline asks, “Now it’s the story of a cheat who will likely pay a high price for his lies. Will Sony resurrect theirs, which had Armstrong aboard, and change the angle?”

If it does resurrect the film, Sony will more than likely have to reinvent its picture, as the movies, like history, aren’t likely to forget about Armstrong’s career of lies.

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com. More Prachi Gupta.

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