Owen Wilson reportedly turned down $12 million to be in a movie that depicted OJ Simpson as innocent
Owen Wilson reportedly turned down a $12 million role to star in a movie called "The Juice."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film represents Simpson as innocent.
Wilson was being courted to play attorney Douglas McCann.
Owen Wilson reportedly turned down an offer to star in a movie that represents O.J. Simpson in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman as innocent — to the tune of $12 million.
The film is titled "The Juice," and stars Charlotte Kirk as Brown and Boris Kodjoe ("Station 19") as Simpson. Described as a "satirical thriller," the film is primarily focused on the real-life attorney Douglas McCann, who represented Simpson in a civil case in 2000.
Director Joshua Newton told The Hollywood Reporter that he and Wilson met to discuss him taking on the McCann role, which another actor has since taken on.
"Owen Wilson was perfect for the role," Newton said. "I actually had a meeting with him in Santa Monica. Everybody loved the script. His agent wanted him to do it. We offered him $12 million. But at the end of the lunch, Owen stood up and said, 'If you think I'm going to take the lead role in a movie about how O.J. didn't do it, you've got to be kidding me.'"
A representative for Wilson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Simpson died in early April. In 1995, Simpson was acquitted in the killings of Brown and Goldman. The widely publicized trial brought in a massive live audience, which followed along on television. In 1997, a jury in civil court found that he was liable for "willfully and wrongfully" causing the deaths of Brown and Goldman, ordering him to pay $33.5 million to their families.
In 2020, the Hollywood Reporter, citing Newton's attorney Larry Caldwell, reported that "The Juice" (then titled "Nicole & O.J.") had shot at least 90% of the material involving Kirk and Kodjoe, filming primarily in Bulgaria in 2018. At the time, the film had 42 days left of filming.
Newton told The Hollywood Reporter that though Wilson passed on the film, he succeeded in casting a "spot-on" actor in the role and hopes to be done filming by early October.
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