Tiger Woods biopic in the works with the Obamas set to produce

Tiger Woods is headed to the big screen with Amazon MGM Studios acquiring film rights to Kevin Cook’s book The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played.

According to Deadline, Reinaldo Marcus Green, who turned the rise of Venus and Serena Williams into the Oscar-nominated 2021 film King Richard, will direct this tale of Woods’ rise from child prodigy to one of the most famous and accomplished golfers of all time. Will Smith nabbed the best actor Oscar for his role in King Richard.

Barack and Michelle Obama’s production venture Higher Ground is in talks to produce along with Irwin Winkler, a veteran sports movie producer behind Rocky, Creed and Goodfellas.

The film will expound on Woods’s early career, which has in recent years been marred by injury; just this week, he underwent emergency surgery on his achilles tendon, all but guaranteeing that he will miss the Masters for only the fifth time since his debut in 1995. Cook, a former Sports Illustrated editor and editor-in-chief of Golf Magazine, focused the book on the so-called Tiger Slam – winning four consecutive majors between 2000 and 2001 – which is still considered the greatest feat in golf history.

The book charted Woods’ development from youth star to world-famous golfer with his first Masters win in 1997, becoming the first Black golfer to win a major title and significantly raising the profile of the sport. Cook spoke with Woods’ caddie, coach, mentors, idols, and opponents on the golfer’s game and drive for perfection despite obstacles on and off the green.

Should Higher Ground officially board the project, it would mark another notch in the Obamas’ sports media portfolio. In the past couple years, the company produced two basketball projects – Court of Gold, on the 2024 Paris Olympics, and Starting 5, on the 2023-2024 NBA season – both for Netflix. The imprint has also produced a number of Oscar-nominated features, including civil rights biopic Rustin and the documentary Crip Camp.

Woods, meanwhile, has continued to extend his career into his late 40s despite nagging knee and back problems. Last December, he partnered with his son Charlie in the PNC Championship, and has been a regular participant in the tech-infused golf league he launched with Rory McIlroy. In February, he visited with president and noted golf enthusiast Donald Trump at the White House for a reception marking Black History Month, as well as discussions on the future of the sport amid divisions on the elite circuit.