Sony nips at Mike Tyson documentary

James Toback’s documentary on the career of infamous boxing legend Mike Tyson takes a sympathetic spin on the story. The film premiered at Cannes this month and has Sony Pictures Classics in talks of picking up the piece.

Toback wrote and directed the film, interspersing footage from throughout Tyson’s career and interviews with the fighter himself. His second documentary, this comprehensive account carries viewers from Tyson's early days with Cus D’Amato to the more recent calamities in his personal life.

This is not the first time that Toback has worked with Tyson. The boxer appeared in 2004’s When Will I Be Loved, which starred Neve Campbell. Tyson and Toback first met in 1987 on the set of The Pick Up Artist. The two remained friends, and when Tyson was in rehab in 2006 for drug use, Toback took the sobering opportunity to interview Tyson about his life.

The documentary has been deemed one of the higher-profile domestic acquisitions of the festival, especially since Cannes historically does not take many documentary submissions. Toback funded the film himself. When the distribution deal with Yari Film Group dissipated, the director purchased the rights and set off to Cannes in hopes of obtaining a deal in order to maintain a November release date.

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