In June 1970, controversial Major League Baseball pitcher and flat out interesting dude Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter. Years later he would admit to never playing a game sober, and that no-hitter in particular was done while high on LSD. Some believe it, some don't, but Ellis was always up front about his issues so there's no reason to doubt him. Undobutedly that key moment in his career will be part of the upcoming biopic, Dock, which now has Straight Outta Compton's O'Shea Jackson Jr. set to star.
Jackson will play Dock Ellis in the film, the news dropping 47 years to the day of Ellis' famous no-hitter as part of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would go on to play for the Mets, Rangers, Yankees, and Athletics over the course of his 10-year career. Ellis was a controversial, outspoken figure who was unafraid to speak out against racism within the MLB, frequently butting heads with the league commissioner. And wearing curlers in his hair was a nice touch, too. He would later put all of his experiences to better use counseling athletes with similar substance abuse problems.
The script will be written by Joey Poach, and is a co-production between Ice Cube's CubeVision label and a Hong Kong-based outfit. Daddy's still lookin' out for his boy, and finding him yet another solid role to chew on. [Deadline]
