Little Leonel Messi is about to hit the big screen.
Barcelona's 25-year-old star, widely hailed as the best player in the world, will be the subject of a new biopic from Epic Pictures Group. According to a release, producers are planning a "Rocky-style" movie that chronicles Messi's rise from his humble beginnings in Argentina to the premier player on one of the world's top teams.
Like Rocky Balboa, Messi's road to success was unconventional. At 5-foot-7 he appeared to be too small to star on a global stage, but he's effectively proved his doubters wrong.
The film will use as its guide Luca Caioli's biography, "Messi: The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend."
“The goal is to make a powerful and positive film that will leave audiences feeling inspired to go after their dreams no matter how impossible they may seem," Patrick Ewald, Epic's CEO, told Variety.
The film's release will be scheduled to coincide with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Most recently, Epic Pictures has produced 11-11-11, The Aggression Scale and Atom Nine Adventures.
