De Niro to portray Lombardi in movie
Actor Robert De Niro is to play Vince Lombardi in a movie about the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, ESPN announced Tuesday. The movie, "Lombardi," is being developed by ESPN Films, the NFL and Andell Entertainment and is slated to be released in theaters in early 2012 on the weekend between the two conference championship games and the Super Bowl, according to the network's announcement. According to the announcement, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Eric Roth is involved with the project and the process of choosing a director is under way. "Having an icon portray an icon on film is amazing, and with a writer as talented as Eric working on the script, the results could be magical for NFL fans," Ron Semiao, a senior vice president of ESPN Films-motion pictures, said in a written statement. ESPN and Andell Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based production company, hold the rights to Lombardi's life
