ABC, Fox Race to Finish Muhammad Ali Movies

ABC and Fox are trying to beat each other to the punch with made-for-TV movies about the life of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Both biographical projects are targeted to air during the February ratings sweeps, creating an inexplicable race between the two networks that represents merely the latest in a series of similarly themed concepts put into development by more than one network. Others include dueling productions about the life of Jesus, the history of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll and “The Partridge Family.”

Still, unlike most of the others, these movies will likely be broadcast within no more than a few weeks of each other. Such races were common when the networks aired more true-crime stories--such as the Amy Fisher case, which spawned three competing movies--but are difficult to explain with properties missing such an element of timeliness.

“It suggests everyone is suffering from a lack of originality,” said one TV movie producer.

ABC announced Tuesday that the network has ordered “King of the World,” a look at Ali’s early career starring Terrence Howard, an actor featured in the current film “The Best Man.” The movie is based on an Ali biography by David Remnick and will be written and directed by “China Beach” co-creator John Sacret Young.

Fox, meanwhile, is soon slated to begin filming its own unauthorized biography produced by actor Robert De Niro’s production company, Tribeca Films, in association with Fox Television Studios. David Ramsey, seen in the recent NBC movie “Mutiny,” will play Ali in the project, which was initially developed at Home Box Office.

A big-screen version of Ali’s life has also been discussed by the “Men in Black” and “Wild Wild West” team of actor Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld.

Marci Pool, senior vice president of movies and miniseries for the Fox Television Studios, pointed out Fox’s movie was in the works before ABC and documents a slightly different chapter in the champion’s life. “Our plan is to go on before them, and frankly, I think ours is a much stronger script,” she said, adding, “I can’t tell you why this happened. . . . It’s sort of bad timing or good timing, depending on how you look at it.”

ABC officials couldn’t be reached for comment.