Sam Rockwell Will Star in Clint Eastwood's 'Ballad of Richard Jewell'

Sam Rockwell is joining forces with Clint Eastwood in his upcoming film The Ballad of Richard Jewell!

The 50-year-old Fosse/Verdon actor is in final negotiations to star in the 89-year-old director and producer’s drama, Variety reports.

The Ballad of Richard Jewell is inspired by “the real-life security guard whose world was turned upside down after law enforcement leaked to an overzealous reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Jewell was a possible suspect for the pipe-bombing at Centennial Park during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. From that moment on, Jewell went from a hero, who first discovered the suspicious abandoned backpack and saved hundreds of lives, to one of the most hated men in America.”

Sam will play “the attorney who defends Jewell after he is wrongly accused.” The role of Jewell has not been cast yet.

Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio were originally attached to star (Leonardo in Sam Rockwell‘s role), but they will reportedly now produce and not star.

READ MORE: Sam Rockwell Opens Up About Growing Up in Hollywood