Tiffany Haddish is finally stepping into the biopic bracket.
The ‘Girls Trip’ actress will play the late Florence Griffith Joyner, the American track and field athlete rated the fastest woman of all time.
According to Variety, Haddish will star in and also produce alongside Game1 Co-CEOs Basil Iwanyk and Greg Economou. Florence’s widower and former coach, Al Joyner is also on board to produce while serving as creative consultant for the film. Joyner has already commenced training with Haddish to prepare her for the role.
“I am so elated to team up with game1 and Tiffany Haddish on this project,” said Joyner. “Working with Tiffany has been a great pleasure – she is incredibly dedicated, focused, and committed to portraying the spirit of Florence accurately, whose legacy of making a difference in the world will live on for generations to come. I hope that this film touches all who see it and inspires people to BE the change the world so desperately needs right now!”
Melanie Clark of She Ready Productions will also serve as a producer, while Jonathan Fuhrman of Thunder Road Pictures will serve as an executive producer.
“We are thrilled to partner with Tiffany on such an important project,” said Iwanyk. “Tiffany has established herself as one of the greatest entertainers in the world today – helping her tell the story of her idol Flo-Jo is an amazing honor and privilege.”
“I am looking forward to telling Flo-Jo’s story the way it should be told,” said Haddish. “My goal with this film is making sure that younger generations know my ‘she-ro’ Flo-Jo, the fastest woman in the world to this day, existed.”
Popularly called Flo-Jo by her fans, Florence’s world record included three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics, and a silver medal in the 200-meter distance at the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles. The world records she set in 1988 for both the 100m and 200m are yet to be broken. She unfortunately died in 1998 from epileptic seizure at the age of 38 in her sleep.
Haddish, who will next star in Paul Schrader’s ‘The Card Counter’ opposite Oscar Isaac and Tye Sheridan has appeared in comedy works such as ‘Like a Boss’, ‘Night School’ and ‘Here Today’.
