Tiffany Haddish To Play Florence Griffith Joyner In Biopic

Actress Tiffany Haddish will star as Olympian track and field icon, Florence Griffith Joyner in a biopic.

Gatekeepers News reports that actress Haddish, in collaboration with sports content studio Game1, will tell the story of late Florence Griffith Joyner who is also known as Flo-Jo.

Game1 and Haddish also intend to produce an array of companion content, including a documentary series and a podcast.

According to an announcement made on Thursday, the feature and related projects “will chronicle the remarkable life and untimely death of the global track and field superstar, not only showcasing Flo-Jo’s dominant and historic Olympic performances, but also her enduring impact on the entire world of sports and in the communities that needed her help and inspiration the most.”

Gatekeepers News gathered that Haddish has already started practising for the role under the tutelage of Joyner’s widower and former coach, Al Joyner, who is also serving as a producer and creative consultant on the biopic project.

“I am looking forward to telling Flo-Jo’s story the way it should be told,” said Haddish in a statement.

“My goal with this film is making sure that younger generations know my ‘she-ro’ Flo-Jo, the fastest woman in the world to this day, existed.”

Flo-Jo’s husband said: “Working with Tiffany has been a great pleasure — she is incredibly dedicated, focused, and committed to portraying the spirit of Florence accurately, whose legacy of making a difference in the world will live on for generations to come. I hope that this film touches all who see it and inspires people to be the change the world so desperately needs right now!”

Game1 Co-CEO’s Basil Iwanyk and Greg Economou will serve as producers on the biopic.

Melanie Clark of She Ready Productions will also serve as a producer, while Jonathan Fuhrman of Thunder Road Pictures will serve as an executive producer.

Therese Andrews, EVP of Production at game1, is spearheading the entire project.

Joyner, the fastest woman on the planet, took the sports world by passion in the 1980s, crowning in record-setting sprints in the 100m and 200m races at the 1988 Summer Olympics. “Fast as Flo-Jo” became a slogan during the Go-Go Decade, even as she retired from sports a year after her wins.

Joyner died in 1998 at the age of 38 from an epileptic seizure. The icon was a model to many kids, including a young Haddish.