Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie is set to produce Bright Path: The Jim Thorpe Story, a biopic based on the life of the legendary Native American athlete Jim Thorpe, as reported by Variety.
Jolie has also recently produced and directed Golden Globe-nominated First They Killed My Father. She will produce her next along with Todd Black and Steve Tisch of the Escape Artist Productions.
Thorpe is regarded as one of the most versatile American athletes. As a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he became the first Native American to win Olympic gold. He won his two Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon. He later went on to have a successful American football and baseball career before finally becoming the first President of American Professional Football, which later became the NFL.
Alaskan Native Amrican actor Martin Seinsmer, who starred in a 2016 remake of the movie The Magnificent Seven, has been roped in to play the role of Thorpe. He will also executive produce the movie. The original screenplay has been co-written by Abraham Taylor, Alex Nibhey and Sterlin Harjo. Harjo is himself a noted Native American filmmaker, who has directed three feature films and a documentary on Native American people, including Mekko and Barking Water.
Reminiscing her interactions with the world renowned athlete, Jolie told Variety, “I have had the privilege of spending time with Bill Thorpe, and will be listening to and guided by the Tribes and the Thorpe family in the making of this film.”
It is being seen as a landmark project as it will be the first mainstream motion picture based on a Native American’s life with a Native American playing the lead role. Influential Native American leader Robert Williamson has regarded this project as a “a powerful human rights story”, as stated in the same report.
Updated Date: May 08, 2018 11:28 AM