Dustin Hoffman to be in Stephen Frears' Lance Armstrong movie?

Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffmann is reported to be appearing in the forthcoming movie about Lance Armstrong being directed by Leicester-born Stephen Frears.

Based on the David Walsh book, Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong, Hoffman is said to be joining the currently untitled project once the European shoot finishes and production moves to the United States, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The movie stars Ben Foster as Armstrong. Walsh himself is being played by fellow Irishman, Chris O’Dowd.

There’s no official word yet on who Hoffman may be playing. One role being bandied about is that of Hein Verbruggen, though the former UCI president have been around 15 years younger than the actor for some of the scenes in question.

Now aged 76, Hoffman, who won Oscars as best male actor for his roles in 1980s movies Tootsie and Rain Man, shows no signs of easing into retirement. He previously teamed up with Frears in the 1992 movie, Accidental Hero.

Also lined up for the US portion of the shoot is Lee Pace, in between interpreting the role of Thranduil in the Hobbit trilogy.

Besides the Frears-helmed project and the recently released Alex Gibney documentary The Armstrong Lie, at least two other movies are currently in the pipeline regarding the cyclist who won the Tour de France seven times in succession from 1999 to 2005 only to be stripped of those titles last year.

Red Blooded American will reportedly star Bradley Cooper, although it’s unclear whether he will play Armstrong or Tyler Hamilton, upon whose story the film is based.

Meanwhile New York Times journalist Juliet Macur's book, Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong, forms the basis of another as-yet untitled project from JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot production firm.