Movie News

Whitaker's got Patriot game

Fri 18 Jan 11:20 AM

Forest Whitaker is set to star in a film telling the true story of a Louisiana high school basketball coach who led his team to the state championship a year after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the school.

In Patriots the Oscar winner will play Coach Al Collins of John Ehret High in Marrero, La.

The script was penned by Robert Eisele who wrote Whitaker's current film The Great Debaters. Filmmaker Tim Story, fresh from helming "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is expected to direct the movie.

"I've gotten caught up with the Fantastic Four films but wanted to find a smaller film with heart, that brought me back to Barbershop, and this has come together with one of the best actors out there," Story told Variety adding, "What Coach Collins did to give back the lives of his players is so inspiring."