(AllHipHop News) Anthony Mackie has tackled roles in movies such as 8 Mile, She Hate Me, The Hurt Locker, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The Juilliard School graduate is next set to star as Olympic champion Jesse Owens.

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Deadline reports Relativity Studios is close to finalizing a deal on the Owens biopic. The site claims the film is set to start production in October with an expected release date of 2016. That year will mark the 80th anniversary of Owens winning a record-breaking four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games.

The track-and-field star’s triumph in ’36 is also seen as a historical landmark because it foiled German leader Adolf Hitler’s goal of using the Olympic Games to prove the A#### race’s superiority. Owens won the gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4 x 100 meter relay.

Another Jesse Owens movie, Race with Stephan James as Owens, is in the works. Focus Features plans to release its Stephen Hopkins directed movie in April 2016.