Jack LaLanne Biopic Based On Steven Kaminsky Biography ‘Anything Is Possible’ In Works from Lisa Saltzman, Gunnar Peterson
EXCLUSIVE: Producer Lisa Saltzman has nabbed feature rights to Steven Kaminsky’s bestselling biography Anything Is Possible: The Jack LaLanne Story on the fitness guru, with well-known personal trainer Gunnar Peterson coming aboard to exec produce her adaptation.
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The book published in 2020 relays the passionate, adventurous spirit of LaLanne, the American fitness icon who believed that you could achieve anything. While the project’s writer hasn’t been announced, and no director is attached, it’s at the script stage and will look to set its cast this year.
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The creatives behind the pic note that there are more than 200,000 health clubs in the world — and that 64 million Americans hold gym memberships, adding up to a whopping $87B global industry. How did we get here? The answer is simple: Jack LaLanne — a true pioneer who understood the power of influence before social media. Using a brand-new medium called television, Jack created the first fitness-focused TV program, The Jack LaLanne Show, in 1951 and saw it run for a record 34 years, reaching and teaching millions about the benefits of exercise. “Anything is possible” was LaLanne’s catchphrase, but it was much more than a slogan — it was how he lived his life and wanted all of us to live ours.
“My first job was at a Jack LaLanne club, I have great memories from it,” Saltzman told Deadline. “The members were into it — they were energized, they knew they were doing great things for their mind and body. Jack started it all. His reach was way beyond the clubs. He is a fitness and nutrition guru. His story is incredibly compelling, inspiring and motivational. He is an icon.”
Peterson added: “Jack LaLanne is the locomotive that pulled the rest of the fitness train around the world. His influence cannot be overestimated, and it will be with us forever. His contributions are too numerous to name, and I can guarantee that we have all benefitted from them at one time or another.”
Continued the EP, “I have a weight belt that Jack signed for me that hangs above the office door in my gym. People ask why that piece of memorabilia — more like history! — gets such a coveted spot, and I say that because without Jack, I wouldn’t be here, and this gym definitely wouldn’t be here.”
Saltzman is also developing films based on two notable artist biographies: Debby Campbell and Mark Bego’s Burning Bridges: Life with My Father Glen Campbell and Matthew Hild’s Arrow Through the Heart: The Biography of Andy Gibb. The former charts highs and lows in the life of country music star Glen Campbell, while the latter looks at singer-songwriter and Bee Gees brother Andy Gibb’s struggle with fame, cocaine addiction and death at just 30 years old.
Saltzman exec produced the Thomas Haden Church film Deception Road and is also an award-winning photographer whose “City Anonymity” series has received much attention.
Peterson is a Beverly Hills-based personal trainer known for working with clients ranging from celebrities like Dwayne Johnson to professional athletes and everyday people who has been in the fitness industry for nearly 30 years, formerly serving as Director of Strength and Endurance for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is an editor and wrote a regular column for Muscle and Fitness magazine for over a decade, is a contributor to Clean Eating magazine, and is on the advisory board for Fitness magazine, also regularly featuring in magazines like Allure, Elle, In Style, In Touch, Us, Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Self.
Peterson has also previously been seen on Today, Fox & Friends, CNN Headline News, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Extra, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, La La’s Full Court Life, Revenge Body and numerous other shows for E! and VH1.
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