You may recall at the beginning of the year I had a chance to talk to Isaiah Washington about his starring role as the "DC sniper" John Allen Muhammad in the vastly overlooked Blue Caprice. At the time Washington was focused solely on that film, as well he should have been considering he gave a truly Oscar-worthy performance. But now that it's done he's moving on to another gripping film about a real life issue, that of concussions caused on the football field.
Washington will exec-produce and star in an untitled film about head trauma caused by action on the gridiron, and what's more it's expected to beat out Ridley Scott's recently-revealed movie on the subject. Washington will be working alongside writer/director Matthew A. Cherry, a former wide receiver-turned-filmmaker who directed the football drama The Last Fall. In other words, Cherry knows his stuff and should be able to bring something genuine to the story of "a retired professional football player suffering from a degenerative brain disease who attempts to reconnect with his estranged son to warn him about returning to play a game too soon after sustaining a concussion."
With concussions becoming an even greater concern in all of sports, it'll be interesting to see how some of the major organizations react, or if they'll react at all. Filming begins next spring.
