A film of maverick snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan is in the works, with Hunger Games studio Lionsgate named as possible producers.
According to the Sunday Mirror, O’Sullivan’s chequered career has sparked a flurry of interest from film-makers, with O’Sullivan himself quoted as saying Lionsgate are the prime movers. “Lionsgate in America got in contact with my agent. I thought ‘they’re not serious’ ... But as it’s gone on they’ve said they were going to buy the rights to my film and a couple of big LA actors who are snooker fans said they want the part.”
O’Sullivan also suggested that Unbroken star Jack O’Connell has put himself forward for the lead role. He said: “[O’Connell] is interested – he’s a big snooker fan and from the North and he’s followed my career and says he wants the part.”
O’Sullivan, 4o, first won snooker’s World Championship in 2001, and has won it a further four times, most recently in 2013. His career has been marked by his turbulent family background and volatile personality: his father, Ronald O’Sullivan Sr, served 17 years for murder, while O’Sullivan himself acknowledged severe addictions to drink and drugs, and “retired” for a year from professional snooker in 2012.
This follows news that a film about footballer Jamie Vardy is in the works, suggesting that sporting figures deemed once of UK interest only are beginning to resonate internationally.
According to the Mirror, O’Sullivan said: “As long as the film does justice to my life I’ve got no problems with it ... I’ve been told it will be along the lines of dramas Whiplash and the Black Swan – which I really liked as it got into the emotions of the character and I think that’s how my career has been.”
