Benjamin Walker Eyes Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, Starring Christopher Plummer & Frank Langella

Benjamin Walker is close to joining the cast of the HBO film Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, according to Variety. The film, directed by Stephen Frears and written by Shawn Slovo. chronicles the legal battle that erupted between Ali and the U.S. government when he became a conscientious objector and declined to serve in the Vietnam War.

Walker is in talks to play Kevin Kennedy, a Supreme Court clerk who championed the issue and wrote the briefs that ultimately resulted in approving Ali's status as a conscientious objector. If he signs on, he will join the previously announced Christopher Plummer as Supreme Court Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II and Frank Langella as Chief Justice Warren Burger. The film will reportedly utilize actual footage of Ali and not cast an actor to play him.

Walker is the title star of the upcoming film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. His Broadway credits include Inherit the Wind, Les Liasons Dangereuses and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. He was slated to star opposite Bradley Cooper and Diego Boneta in Paradise Lost, but it was postponed due to budget concerns.

Frank Doelger, Tracey Scoffield and Jonathan Cameron are set to executive produce the film, with Scott Ferguson producing.