Filming of Ali, a Columbia Pictures' biography of the former heavyweight champion, has begun with Will Smith in the starring role.
Directed by Michael Mann, the $US105 million ($240 million) movie also includes Jon Voigt, Jamie Foxx, Mario Van Peebles and Ron Silver as trainer Angelo Dundee.
The film follows the boxer'searly days and his rise in sports and politics. He was stripped of his heavyweight title after refusing to fight in the Vietnam War on religious grounds.
The script also depicts Ali's comeback battles against Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
United States actress Jodie Foster will head the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival which opens on May 9.
"Every time we spoke of American stars at the festival, the name Jodie Foster came up," festival chief Gilles Jacob said. "Jodie has the charm and seductive quality of one of the best actresses of her generation."
Foster, 38, was educated at a French school in Los Angeles and has appeared in French films.
She won the top prize at Cannes, the Golden Palm, in 1976, for the role of Iris, the drug-addicted 12-year-old prostitute in Taxi Driver.
"I am the product of two cultures. This will be an opportunity to celebrate my love for the French language, culture and cinema as an American personality," Foster said.
Ridley Scott's Hannibal and a version of Fritz Lang's 1927 silent classic Metropolis with a new score are among 16 world premieres for this year's Berlin film festival.
The February 7-18 event also features a retrospective of Kirk Douglas and closes with a restored print of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
