The Weinstein Company is negotiating with Forest Whitaker to star in the sporting drama "Patriots" reports Variety.

Whitaker would play Al Collins, basketball coach for John Ehret High in Marrero, Louisiana who led his Patriots to the state championship a year after Katrina ravaged the school and displaced many of its students.

Collins' team consisted of ten players who attended five different schools before the disaster.

This is the first film project that has locked in a start date as a direct result of an interim agreement made between the WGA and an independent studio.

Tim Story ("Taxi," "Fantastic Four") will direct the project which will begin production in early April for release around Thanksgiving.