Work on a new film will get under way in Newcastle later this year that will bring to the big screen the remarkable story behind Muhammad Ali's famous visit to Tyneside.
A God Amongst Men, announced by Studio Pictures and writer-director James Newton, will bring to a wider spotlight the true tale of how Johnny Walker, a boxing fan from South Tyneside, set out to bring the heavyweight champion to the North East - and, against all odds, succeeded.
For Newton the project is one particularly close to his heart. On a visit to Newcastle, the Ashington-born director explained how he was actually there back in 1977 to see Ali on his visit and it's an image seared into his memory. While he was just a child at the time, he remembers the amazement of everyone to see him.
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South Tyneside painter and decorator Walker - who will be played in the film by former Dr Who Christopher Eccleston - had set off to the States with belief in his heart that the world’s highest-paid sportsman would accept his invitation to South Shields; a visit he hoped would help raise money for the local boxing club. When Ali agreed, people were caught so off-guard there was hardly anybody at Newcastle Airport to welcome him.
But 'The Greatest' took time to inspire youngsters at the Grainger Park boxing club - and the opportunity at the same time to have his new marriage blessed during the visit. He wore a white suit for the occasion and Newton, who had been taken along by his parents, recalls how he was mesmerised by the sight of the towering figure.
"He was huge compared to me," he says. "I think he the first black man I had seen in the flesh."
He never forgot the impression and it felt like a personal connection. It was after Ali's death that he began to really think about how remarkable it was that the boxing champ came to be in the North East. This film, which sees him work with co-writer Ian Skelton, has become a pet project.
He started researching the story, which has gone down in Geordie folklore, to find out the full facts. The truth is a bit different but the achievement is every bit as remarkable. He has been given access to documents from the time and met with people involved, including Mr Walker's family.
On his visit to Newcastle - from his home in Brighton - Newton had arranged a visit to Grainger Park boxing club. While the club has been rebuilt since Ali's visit and is too modern to feature in the film, it continues in the same tradition.
The director, who grew up in Wideopen, has directing for theatre and worked in TV and on shorts and feature films for 10 years, after initially starting out as an actor who had a role in ill-fated series Eldorado. Now he has plans to move back home.
His parents, who had also left the region, have just returned and Newton soon will be following suit, as he is preparing to move his family up north.
After pre-production work on A God Amongst Men gets under way in August, filming will start around October to November. The late Ali is being played by Nicholas Pinnock, whose CV takes in Channel 4's Top Boy and, in the US, Captain America and legal drama For Life. Newton calls him "an amazing human being, with a special energy about him".
To play Walker, former Doctor Who star and Thor: The Dark World actor Christopher Eccleston presumably will be brushing up on the local accent he perfected for his role as Nicky Hutchinson in nineties hit TV series Our Friends in the North.
But before all that the filmmakers will be propelling themselves into the metaverse this summer with the launch of a collection of NFTs. A top comic artist, whose name is not yet revealed, is creating exclusive NFT characters whose release in July, with exclusive opportunities to own unique pieces, will help build an audience for the film even before they start shooting it.
The idea is to built a community through the sale of the collection of 11 hand-drawn cartoon characters who will be based on the film's real-life working-class children called The Skidz, an abbreviation of Shields Park Kids after the boxing club. Each will come with a perk, such as a chance to visit the set; own limited-edition merchandise or attend the cast and crew screening.
Newton says: "We might be the first British film to do this way of working".
He is embracing social media and, with it becoming increasingly difficult to secure funding to make films, he thinks that NFTs could well be the way forward, addressing that funding issue and opening up so many other possibilities.
A God Amongst Men is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
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