Here's the first trailer for the new Lance Armstrong biopic called 'The Program'

The first trailer for the highly anticipated biopic about fallen sports icon Lance Armstrong is out.

"The Program," directed by Stephen Frears and starring Ben Foster as Armstrong, opens in Germany on October 8 before going to other countries, The Playlist reports.

Dustin Hoffman is in the movie, as is Lee Pace, Chris O’Dowd, Jesse Plemons, and others.

Here's the poster for the film, via Coming Soon:

This is Ben Foster, who plays Lance Armstrong:

Here's Chris O’Dowd, who plays investigative journalist David Walsh:

Guillaume Canet as "doping doctor"Michele Ferrari:

Jesse Plemons plays Floyd Landis, a teammate of Armstrong:

Here are a few powerful images from the trailer:

Update (June 11): Here's the English-language trailer, which became available on Thursday:

This is what director Frears had to say about the film, as reported on ING (via The Film Stage):

“In terms of how [Lance Armstrong] conducted his behavior, he’s discussed how he’s made his mistakes, and whether or not he can make good on them now is not for me to decide. In terms of his athletic ability, there aren’t many like him. That’s a combination of focus,” Foster said last year. “It’s as much will as being a physical body. He’s one of the greatest athletes that’s ever lived. He came up in a time of doping, and it’s my opinion, if you look at the statistics, you have to go down 17 or 18 guys for those seven years retroactively, at least, to find a clean rider. So it wasn’t EPO [Erythropoietin] that made Lance the greatest cyclist. It was something far bigger. How he handled that ability, how he handled his will, that story’s not over yet.”

Here's the promo copy for the film, via YouTube:

From Academy Award® nominated director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) and producers Working Title (The Theory Of Everything, Everest, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), comes the true story of the meteoric rise and fall of one of the most celebrated and controversial men in recent history, Lance Armstrong.

Based on the award winning book “Seven Deadly Sins” by David Walsh, and featuring a stellar cast including Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Guillaume Canet (Tell No One) and Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad), this tense and suspenseful thriller looks at how one of the greatest deceptions in the modern era was uncovered while Armstrong convinced the world he was a hero, winning the Tour de France seven times.

The US Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA, stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour de France titles in October 2012. In its "Reasoned Decision," USADA said that evidence against Armstrong showed beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, with Armstrong as its leader, "ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

Before he got caught for doping, Armstrong was considered by many to be the greatest cyclist in the history of the sport, which historically had been largely dominated by Europeans.

Before Armstrong, no cyclist had ever won more than five Tours. That Armstrong, a cancer survivor, won seven Tours in a row captured the attention of the entire world. The three-week Tour de France is the world's largest annual sporting event.

The sport made Armstrong a multimillionaire and brought him fame. His net worth, according to The New York Times, was estimated at $125 million in 2012.

In August 2014, Armstrong told Dan Patrick that he still believed he won those seven Tours but no longer wore a Livestrong bracelet. In December 2014 he crashed his SUV into two parked cars in Colorado and left the scene without contacting police. His girlfriend, Anna Hansen, tried to take the blame, telling Aspen police she wanted to keep his name out of national headlines.

In February, Armstrong was ordered to pay back $10 million in Tour de France prize money.

Last week, Armstrong told Dan Patrick that these days he's "an Uber driver" for his kids and treated well by people in public.

SEE ALSO: What Lance Armstrong misses most about being one of the world’s most popular athletes

DON'T MISS: Lance Armstrong says he would probably cheat again

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