Tony Winners Christopher Plummer & Frank Langella Join HBO Film Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight

Tony winners Christopher Plummer and Frank Langella have signed on to the HBO film Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Stephen Frears will direct the film, which 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. Plummer will play Supreme Court Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II, and Langella will play Chief Justice Warren Burger.

Plummer, currently an Oscar nominee for his role in Beginners, won Tony Awards for his work in Cyrano and Barrymore and nominations for Inherit the Wind, King Lear, No Man’s Land, Othello and J.B. His other Broadway credits include The Good Doctor, Arturo Ui, Night of the Auk, The Lark and The Starcross Story. He earned his first Oscar nomination for The Last Station and his other notable films include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Syriana, Dolores Claiborne, Malcolm X, The Man Who Would be King, Waterloo and The Sound of Music.

Langella has earned Tony Awards for Frost/Nixon, Fortune's Fool and Seascape, and nominations for Match and Dracula. His other Broadway credits include A Man For All Seasons, Present Laughter, The Father, Hurlyburly, Design For Living, Amadeus and Man and Boy. A screen adaptation of Dracula garnered film fame, and his many movie credits include Frost/Nixon, All Good Things, The Box and Good Night and Good Luck.

Shawn Slovo wrote the script for Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, which is executive produced by Frank Doelger, Tracey Scoffield, Jonathan Cameron and Frears.