The Program (working title Icon) is a 2015 biographical drama film about Lance Armstrong directed by Stephen Frears, starring Ben Foster as Armstrong and Chris O Dowd as journalist David Walsh.

The film is based on Walsh s 2012 book Seven Deadly Sins. It premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on 14 September 2015 and was theatrically released in France on 16 September and the United Kingdom on 14 October.

Cast

• Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong
• Chris O Dowd as David Walsh
• Guillaume Canet as Michele Ferrari
• Jesse Plemons as Floyd Landis
• Lee Pace as Bill Stapleton
• Denis Menochet as Johan Bruyneel
• Dustin Hoffman as Bob Hamman
• Edward Hogg as Frankie Andreu
• Elaine Cassidy as Betsy Andreu
• Laura Donnelly as Emma O Reilly
• Sam Hoare as Stephen Swart
• Kevin Hulsmans as Filippo Simeoni
• John Schwab as Travis Tygart
• Lucien Guignard as Alberto Contador
• Nicolas Robin as Christophe Bassons
• James Harkness as Wayne
• Josh O Connor as Rich
• Nathan Wiley as Charles Pelkey

Production

Development

Director Stephen Frears had the idea to make a film about Lance Armstrong after reading a review of Tyler Hamilton s book, The Secret Race. Unable to acquire the rights for Hamilton s book, he instead settled on Walsh s Seven Deadly Sins. Frears then turned to screenwriter John Hodge to write the script, partly because of Hodge s experience as a doctor.

Hodge has said that he primarily based his screenplay on Seven Deadly Sins, in addition to other journalism and affidavits from cyclists. Hodge says he ruled out using Armstrong s own accounts of his behavior during this period, and that scenes shown from Armstrong s perspective are fiction.

Casting

Lee Pace joined the cast in November 2013. Dustin Hoffman joined the cast in December 2013.

To better understand his role, Foster took performance-enhancing drugs while shooting the film.

Filming

Principal photography began in October 2013.

Reception

Box office

The Program grossed $3.3 million worldwide. It was released for U.S. rental on DirecTV on 19 February 2016, with a cinema release on 18 March 2016.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 61%, based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site s critical consensus reads, Ben Foster s impressive efforts to channel Lance Armstrong are often enough to power The Program past director Stephen Frears frustrating unwillingness to delve deeper into its real-life story. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews .

Year	2015
ReleaseDate	2016-03-18
RuntimeMins	99
RuntimeStr	1h 39min
Plot	An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong’s performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.
Directors	Stephen Frears
Writers	John Hodge, David Walsh
Stars	Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Guillaume Canet
Produced by	Raphaël Benoliel,Tim Bevan,Liza Chasin,Olivier Courson,Eric Fellner,Amelia Granger,Ron Halpern,Matthieu Rubin,Tracey Seaward,Kate Solomon
Music by	Alex Heffes
Cinematography by	Danny Cohen
Film Editing by	Valerio Bonelli
Casting By	Kathleen Chopin,Leo Davis,Lissy Holm
Production Design by	Alan Macdonald
Art Direction by	Jeremy Conway,Andrew Rothschild,Denis Schnegg,Astrid Sieben
Set Decoration by	Gabriella Villarreal
Costume Design by	Jane Petrie
Makeup Department	Shawna Ahl,Gil Allan,Luke Anthony,Howard Berger,Felicity Bowring,Michaela Farrell,Véronique Gely,Alison Hanken,Sam Headley,Jennifer Jackson,Irène Jordi,Tami Lane,Ray Marston,Siobhán McGrath,Bea Millas,Kelly Nelson,Greg Nicotero,Fabienne Robineau,Sarah Weatherburn,Riva Williams,Sue Wyburgh
Production Management	Tania Blunden,Samantha Knox-Johnston,Rozenn Le Pape,Sharon McGuinness,Olivier Servanin,Eric A. Williams
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Edward Bellamy,James Chambers,Jessica Corlett,Jean Ghesquiere,Kayse Goodell,Timur Karamolla,Zoe Liang,Guilhem Malgoire,Beatrice Manning,Barrie McCulloch,John Nolan,Alex Oakley,Jack Scarisbrick,Zuzana Tomcalova,Christopher Wolfe,Sarah Heitz de Chabaneix
Art Department	Tony Allen,George Ausburger,Alan Bailey,Graham Bishop,Toby Browne,Stéphane Cabrera,Charlie Cobb,John Condron,Laura Conway-Gordon,Mylon Domican,Lauren Doss,James Enright,Jannick Guillou,Juliet Guimont,Shaina Hedlund,Alexandra Hesketh-Wells,Clare Holland,Clare Holton,Gary Jobber,Paul Jolliot,Thomas Laporte,Dan Marsden,Emily Meech,Campbell Mitchell,Daisy Moseley,Francois Poublan,Mike Rawlings,Kenneth R. Rector,Danny Rogers,Emma Rogers,Andrew Rothschild,Heike Scharrer-Smallcombe,Mary Pat Sheahan,Joe Vassallo,Caroline Vion,Joe Wilkes,Carl Wilson,Chris Edwards,Scott A. Riley,Elizabeth Slater,Helen Yates
Sound Department	Mark Appleby,Justine Baker,Nick Baldock,Jeremy Brown,Alex Bryce,Ben Carr,Tim Cavagin,Vincent Cosson,Mark DeSimone,Mike Dowson,Detlef Halaski,Craig Irving,Phil Lee,Peter Lindsay,Mitch Low,Kate Morath,Chris Navarro,Marc Parazon,Harry Platford,Becki Ponting,Dave Poulton,James Shannon,Jay Simon,Jason Stevens,Jason Swanscott,Michael Lee Taylor,Mike Tehrani,Simon Trundle,Andy Walker,Max Walsh,Ian Wilson
Special Effects by	Neil Toddy Todd
Visual Effects by	Tim Caplan,Marta Cañavate,Matthew Chan,Mitch Crease,Lucas Manuel Cuenca,Andy Cuthbert,Amy Davis,Agueda Del Castillo,Adam Gascoyne,Adam Glasman,Steve Gurr,Alexander Ha,Patrick Hall,Shani Hermoni,Manuel Huertas,Taskin Kenan,Ines Li,Simon Lowe,Dillan Nicholls,Noel O’Malley,Maria Peralta Ramos,Iain Read,Noga Alon Stein,Gareth Stevenson,Filip Sustek,Luciano Vittori Jr.,Ben Wilson,Lewis Wright,David Craddock
Stunts	Gary Connery,Gilles Conseil,Nrinder Dhudwar,Yan Dron,Cyrille Dufaut,Zack Duhame,Rob Jarman,Christophe Marsaud,Gareth Milne,Christophe Roblin,Immanuel Salas,Jeff Schwan,John Arszyla,Zack Duhame,Immanuel Salas
Camera and Electrical Department	Stéphane Afchain,Emmanuelle Alaitru,Jeremie Averty,Anca Badita,Anthony Bagley,Simon Baker,Theo Berman,Thomas Browne,Wailoon Chung,Billy Clifford,Danny Cohen,Chris Cole,Tobias Eedy,Gabriele Filippelli,Alex Finlayson,Michael Forster,Filippo Giansante,Sebastien Guerrieri,Robert Hatfield,Philip Heron,Larry D. Horricks,Ryan King,Cyril Kuhnholtz,Ross Lancaster,Lydia Lewis,Andy Long,Danny McGee,Alex Mott,Brian Nelligan,Dan Norrish,Patrick O’Flynn,Iain Ovenden,Felix Pickles,Patrick Pourcier,Van Redin,Mathieu Reymond,Christine Reymond-Laruinaz,Dean Rogers,John Sedlack,Daniel Sean Smith,Tom Stansfield,Iain Struthers,Gary Thornhill,Nicolas Turchet,Olivier Valet,Charlie Wall,Benjamin Michael Wearing,Martyn Welland,Daniel Wombwell,Deepa Keshvala
Casting Department	Vanessa Baker,Marie Pierre Delabrière,Adam Penny,Vanessa Seydoux
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Emma Ackerman,Nicky Barron,Stephany Baskin,Magali Bonnot,Jérôme Brousseau,Richard Davies,Sarah Dutton,Liz Essex,Sian Evans,Carly Griffith,Laurent Guinci,Katie Johnston,Samantha Kent,Holly Smart
Editorial Department	Maria Chamberlain,Peter Collins,Georgina Cranmer,Sinéad Cronin,Rob Farris,Gianluca Ferrari,Lawrence Hook,Patrick Malone,Karenjit Sahota,Nathan Summerfield,Daniel Tomlinson,Laurent Treherne,Diana Vasquez,Martina Zamolo
Location Management	Tim Aspert,Daragh Coghlan,Rebecca Davis,Serge Desfilles,Arnaud Duterque,Ken Lewin,Ben Mangham,Jean-Philippe Moreteau,Stephen Parker,Nicolas Piechaczek,Christel Rasquin,Adam Richards,Vernon Smith,Elisa Touraine,Sarah Worsley
Music Department	Jonathan Atkinson,Peter Cobbin,Rebecca Dale,Karen Elliott,Daniel Elms,Toby Hulbert,Lewis Jones,Kirsten Lane,Tommy Laurence,T.J. Lindgren,Greg McAllister,Gerard McCann,Tom Poster,Hilary Skewes,John Ashton Thomas,Martin Tillman,Kirsty Whalley
Script and Continuity Department	Elisa Landozzi,Susanna Lenton
Transportation Department	Jeremy Bau,Mark Beeton,Hassan Blal,Glenn Charter,Antonio Cides,Damien Clement,Paula Collins,Barry Dye,Jeff Hudson,Mark Hudson,Leon Keegan,T.J. Larson,Peter Mercer,Philippe Millot,Alexandre Petellat,Emma Savin
Additional Crew	Susana Ballesteros,Richard Berkeley,Leo Burgat,Tilly Coulson,Ellie Coverdale,Matt Curtis,Melanie Dicks,Linda Drew,Victoria Endacott,Dan Eppley,Maria Pia Fanigliulo,Matthew Field,Fanny Floupin,Beatrice Giraud,Tarn Harper,Deborah Harpur,Tanner Jobe,Amanda Kaplan,Sean Kavanagh,Lauren Knutti,Yaël Lamglait,Bill Lanier,T.J. Larson,Sandrine Legrand Dealbera,Aaron Lee Lopez,Fernando Lueches,Dan MacRae,Shazia Majeed,James Joseph McDonald,David Millar,Jon Miller,Justin Miller,Simon Mills,Astrid Monarque,Louise O’Malley,Tom Ormerod,Guy Phillips,Jessica Poessiger,Pascal Pons,George Pope,Bradley Porter,Georgia Pownall,Julie Rebaudo,Emma Robinson,Tom Rothwell,Michael Saleman,Ashley Saunders,Renaud Schiff,Albert Sharpe,Edmund Shaw,Jack Sidey,Jennifer Simonnet,Tristan Tansu,Byron Scott Thomas,Katharine Tidy,Josh Tywater,John Walbeoffe,Rebecca Warren,Sarah Jane Wright,Maria Pia Fanigliulo,Rob Levy
Thanks	Betsy Andreu,Rupert Guinness,Deborah Harpur,Greg LeMond,Charles Pelkey,Michel Zilo
Genres	Biography, Drama, Sport
Companies	Anton, Momentum Pictures, StudioCanal
Countries	UK, USA, France
Languages	English
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	6.5
ImDbRatingVotes	17885
MetacriticRating	53
Keywords	tour de france,journalist,bicycle,coach,doctor