Mike Tyson joins thriller 'Black Flies'

Shooting is underway in New York City

72-Mike-Tyson Lord of the ring: Karan Johar recently tweeted a surprise announcement: Boxing champion Mike Tyson will make an appearance in Dharma Productions’ Liger, starring Vijay Deverakonda. “For the first time ever, the king of the ring will be seen on the big screens of Indian cinema,” tweeted Johar. Deverakonda, too, seemed to be in seventh heaven. “We promised you madness. We are just getting started,” he tweeted, describing Tyson as “the baddest man on the planet, the God of boxing, the legend, the beast, the greatest of all time”. The Puri Jagannadh directorial, in which Deverakonda plays a stammering martial artist, will be simultaneously released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam | AFP

Boxing legend Mike Tyson has booked his next acting job in "Black Flies", a thriller drama based on Shannon Burke's novel of the same name.

Tyson's previous film credits include The Hangover franchise, in which he most famously played a fictionalised version of himself, and Ip Man 3.

He will play the men's superior officer in the movie, to be directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire.

Tyson, who will next be seen in the pan India film "Liger", joins previously announced cast members Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan in the project which revolves around lifesaving paramedics and the toll the job takes on them.

Sheridan will essay the role of an idealistic young man who is prepping for medical school and gets a street-side view of things when he drives an ambulance alongside a grizzled veteran (Penn) who is considered to be one of the city's best emergency medics.

Burke, Ben Mac Brown and Ryan King wrote the script for Black Flies.

The film is being produced under the Sculptor Media banner alongside Force Majeure, James Masciello's creative producing arm, and Projected Picture Works.

Shooting is underway in New York City. 

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