British director Joshua Newton has reportedly been working on a “satirical thriller” about O.J. Simpson’s murder case since 2015, but the film has been stuck in development hell, partially because they struggled to find a lead actor to helm the movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Owen Wilson was in the running to play Douglas McCann, a real-life lawyer who believed a number of conspiracy theories about Simpson’s innocence during the trial.
“Owen Wilson was perfect for the role,” Newton told THR. “I actually had a meeting with him in Santa Monica. Everybody loved the script. His agent wanted him to do it. We offered him $12 million.”
Wilson outrightly refused the role because of the premise of the film, which questions whether Simpson was innocent of Nicole Brown Simpson‘s murder.
“At the end of the lunch, Owen stood up and said, ‘If you think I’m going to take the lead role in a movie about how O.J. didn’t do it, you’ve got to be kidding me,’” Newton said, per THR.
The film is still set to move forward, however, with or without Wilson. Newton claims they cast another “spot on” actor to play McCann.
Titled The Juice, the film will also star actress Charlotte Kirk as Nicole and Boris Kodjoe as O.J.
O.J. died April 11 after a private battle with prostate cancer. He was reportedly living in hospice care for months before the end of his life.
The former Buffalo Bills quarterback had an impressive football career that he later parlayed into acting, making him a major public figure. However, his reputation was tarnished when he stood accused of murdering his wife and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
He was eventually acquitted of the murders but he was later found guilty of wrongful death in a civil trial and order to pay $33.5 million in damages to Nicole and Goldman’s families.
Newman’s film is just one of several dramatizations and documentaries that have been made of the Trial of the Century.
The director says the first 30 minutes of the film have already been done, but he plans to have the film completed by Oct. 3, which marks the 29th anniversary of Simpson being found not guilty.
