Hollywood legend Robert De Niro is set to play legendary NFL (National Football League) coach Vince Lombardi in new biopic. The new sports movie about the American Football great Vince Lombardi is being developed by Andell Entertainment, ESPN Films and the National Football League. Looks like double Oscar winner Robert De Niro, still has insatiable appetite for films at this age.
Last week tfc18.com had reported that Robert De Niro is all set to star opposite Bradley Cooper in a new suspense film ‘The Dark Fields’ to be directed by German filmmaker Neil Burger. According to reports, legendary Hollywood screenwriter Eric Roth who has written scripts for numerous Hollywood blockbusters like ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, ‘Forrest Gump’, ‘Munich’, ‘The Good Shepherd’ is working on the film script.

Vince Lombardi who died in 1970, is considered one of the American Football’s greatest coaches after he took Green Bay Packers, blasted for being the worst team in the National Football League to 5 championships in 9 years in the 1960s. Charles Coplin, Vice President Programming-NFL said "There are few actors who could accurately portray the fire, passion and grit of Vince Lombardi, and we're thrilled to have Robert De Niro on board our team.”

The film makers plan to release the film on the weekend between the AFC and NFC Conference Championships and Super Bowl, 2012. According to reports, the yet untitled film will cover Vince Lombardi’s life from 1959 when he was given his first opportunity to be an NFL head coach, to taking over the small-town Green Bay Packers, one of the worst teams in the NFL, and transforms a group of young, talented but undisciplined losers into 5 time NFL champions in 1960s. The film will also highlight the long-standing rivalry between Vince Lombardi and legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, both of whom were assistants to the New York Giants team that lost the 1958 NFL Championship.