Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee was set to follow "Life of Pi" with a 3D boxing movie about the story of the "Thrilla in Manila" fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, but went on to work with the movie adaptation of the novel "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk." Now that the film is nearing its completion, Lee can focus on finding the actors to play the two legendary boxers.

According to Screen Crush, the 61-year-old director already has his eyes on Ray Fisher and David Oyelowo as Ali and Frazier, respectively. Fisher is a stage actor who played Ali in the play "Fetch Clay, Make Man." He is also set to appear as Cyborg in the upcoming "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and all the expected "Justice League" films.

Oyelowo is an English actor known for portraying Martin Luther King, Jr. in the biopic film "Selma." He also had roles in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "The Help," "Middle of Nowhere," "Lincoln" and "The Butler."

The untitled "Thrilla in Manila" movie was originally planned back in 2013 with Universal Pictures, but it stalled when Lee decided to make "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk." The boxing film is now scheduled to be produced by Jeff Robinov's Studio 8 and will be distributed by Sony Pictures. Peter Morgan, who scripted "Frost/Nixon," wrote the screenplay for the upcoming untitled film, per Deadline.

"Thrilla in Manila" was the third and last fight of the Ali-Frazier rivalry that happened on Oct. 1, 1975, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines. Ali retained his world heavyweight championship when Frazier's coach, Eddie Futch, stopped the fight before the start of the 15th round.

The fight is widely considered as one of the greatest boxing matches in history, as noted by ESPN. It was ranked as the fifth greatest sporting event of the 20th century by ESPN in 1999. In his biography, Ali revealed that he was ready to quit at the end of the 14th round, but luckily, Frazier quit first.

Many boxing fans along with movie enthusiasts will surely watch a film about this fight. Ang is known for his great cinematic techniques that have won him three Academy Awards with films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Life of Pi."

Lee will begin working on the "Thrilla in Manila" movie after completing the post-production of the Billy Lynn movie that stars Joe Alwyn, Vin Diesel, Garrett Hedlund, Steve Martin and Kristen Stewart. It is scheduled to be released on Nov. 11, 2016 by TriStar Pictures.