David Seidler, who won an Oscar for "The King's Speech," is attached to pen the screenplay.
Disney is tackling the story of Jesse Owens, the black track-and-field star who broke down race barriers when he won four medals at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.
Antoine Fuqua is attached to direct the project, which also has David Seidler, the Oscar-winning scribe behind The Kings Speech, attached to write the screenplay. Seidler will adapt Triumph, the book by ESPN anchor Jeremy Schaap.
Producing are BermanBrauns Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun and Netter Films Gil Netter.
Triumph recounts Owens rise from a poor childhood in 1920s Cleveland to his ascendance in running and the long jump. At Berlin, he won four gold medals, a direct affront to Adolf Hitler's ideas of Aryan superiority.
Part of Owens' myth is that Hitler snubbed him at the Games after his wins, but Triumph claims that while it is true Hitler didnt shake hands with Owens, it was due to other factors. The book depicts Owens complaining more about being snubbed by Franklin D. Roosevelt than the Nazi leader.
Fuqua, repped by CAA, last directed the hit action movie Olympus Has Fallen and has Sonys The Equalizer in post for a Sept. 26, 2014 release.
