Ali Film Takes It on the Chin

October 16 -- After months of intensive workouts, Will Smith is ready to fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee as Muhammad Ali. The trouble is, the film about the boxing champ may just have been KO'd.

According to Variety, Sony just put the picture in turnaround, where it may stay indefinitely. The budget on the film is reportedly shooting upward of the studio's $105 million cap.

The shutdown may be just a ploy to control director Michael Mann, Variety surmises. The Oscar-nominated director of The Insider is meeting with studio execs today to see if the film's budget can be scaled back.

Leading man Smith, who has Ali's personal approval to portray him, exercised directorial approval on the film. He and the studio chose to back Mann instead of Spike Lee, who was actively pursuing the job. Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed Smith in the smash Men in Black and the dud Wild Wild West, was originally attached to direct.

If Ali is down for the count, Smith may consent to star in another Sony property, the much-anticipated Men in Black sequel. However, he may opt to follow Ali to another studio if Sony decides to sell off the boxing biopic. Either way, it's a shame — both Men in Black and Wild Wild West produced hit singles — imagine what the Artist Formerly Known as the Fresh Prince could have done with Ali as his subject.