Ali is a American biographical film directed by Michael Mann. The film tells the story of boxing icon Muhammad Ali (Will Smith) from 1964 to 1974 featuring his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, banishment from boxing, his return to fight Joe Frazier in 1971, and, lastly, his reclaiming the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974.

The movie also discusses the great social and political upheaval in the United States following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Production

The movie was written by Gregory Allen Howard, Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Eric Roth and Michael Mann. The original script by Howard and Rivele was significantly modified by Roth and Mann. Howard was originally commissioned to write an Ali script by producer Jon Peters in 1994, but it was never produced.