JJ Abrams planning Lance Armstrong movie

'Star Trek' director JJ Abrams has reportedly bought the rights to a forthcoming biography of shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Abrams, his partner in his Bad Robot production company Bryan Burk and Paramount Pictures are said to be behind plans to make a biopic, which are currently at proposal stage.

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The book is called 'Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong', and is to be penned by Juliet Macur, a journalist for the New York Times who has covered Armstrong for more than a decade, through his recovery from cancer to winning his seventh Tour De France.

Sony Pictures had previously been working on a biopic of the athlete, who admitted doping for the first time on Oprah Winfrey's talk show last week after years of public denial and lawsuits.

Jake Gyllenhaal was reportedly in the frame to star, but the project was dropped.