JJ Abrams buys Armstrong's biography rights

JJ Abrams' company Bar Robot, which he co-owns with Paramount Studios, has bought the rights to Juliet Macur's book proposal 'Cycle Of Lies: The Fall Of Lance Armstrong', which will be published by HarperCollins.

Macur is a sports reporter for the New York Times and has covered Armstrong for more than a decade, from his cycling exploits and cancer battle to his denial of and recent admission to doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday night .

A release date for the book has not been set.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the shamed cyclist confessed to using illegal performing enhancements throughout his career.

He won seven consecutive Tour De France titles, but was stripped of all honours and banned from cycling for life after the US Anti-Doping Agency ruled he had used banned substance.

It was reported Sony Pictures had an earlier Armstrong project in the works with Jake Gyllenhaal in the frame to play the athlete, although this was mooted prior to recent revelations and Armstrong was viewed in a positive light.

The studio subsequently abandoned the project in light of the allegations.

Abrams' work can next be seen on screen when 'Star Trek:Into Darkness' is released in May.

Benedict Cumberbatch joins the cast for the sci-fi sequel, playing a villain known as John Harrison, although in a recent interview Abrams added fuel to speculation the character will have another famous identity.