A Tonya Harding movie will see Suicide Squad’s Margot Robbie as the disgraced Olympian
The Wolf of Wall Street star Margot Robbie has signed on to headline a budding Tonya Harding movie that will tell the true story of the disgraced Olympic figure skater. Titled I, Tonya, the script originated as a spec by Steven Rogers, the scribe behind big screen fare like Kate & Leopold and Love the Coopers. Per Deadline, Rogers’ script is based on firsthand interviews with the real Tonya Harding and her former husband turned partner in crime Jeff Gillooly.
The Tonya Harding movie will shine a light on the infamous 1994 incident wherein the Olympic figure skater was connected to an attack on skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. Kerrigan was attacked by a hired thug following a practice session in Detroit. Although the intent was to break Kerrigan’s leg, the skater was only bruised and went on to significantly outperform Harding in the Olympics. Following the event, Harding was prosecuted for the attack alongside Gillooly and several additional parties.
Margot Robbie has been on a roll as of late. Last year she starred opposite Will Smith in Focus, opposite Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Z for Zachariah, and memorably cameoed as herself in Adam McKay’s The Big Short. She’s in theaters now opposite Tina Fey in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and can be seen coming up in both the DC Comics antihero ensemble Suicide Squad and in the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ adaptation The Legend of Tarzan.
It’s still early days for I, Tonya, which does not yet have a director attached and is currently in the process of securing financing. Robbie herself will produce the project through her LuckyChap Entertainment while Bryan Unkeless is also set to produce through his Clubhouse Pictures.
(Photo Credit: C. Smith / WENN.com)
