Anthony Mackie to play Johnnie Cochran in film

Actor Anthony Mackie is going to court as attorney Johnnie Cochran in an upcoming film about police brutality. The '

Captain America: Civil War

' star has been cast as the late legal eagle, who famously represented O.J. Simpson in the American football star's murder trial two decades ago, in an as-yet-untitled film centring around his landmark Signal Hill case in 1981, reported Deadline.

Cochran represented college football star

Ron Settles

, who had been arrested for speeding in the Signal Hill area of Los Angeles County. Shortly after he was taken intro custody, Settles was found hanged in his cell. While police called it a suicide, Cochran pushed for an autopsy, which ultimately revealed the 21-year-old had been choked to death. Cochran passed away in 2005.
Anthony Mackie: 'Civil War' is more of a family dispute
As a result of the case, police reforms were mandated and Cochran became known for his advocacy of African-Americans in police brutality cases. Years later, he hit headlines once again by serving as OJ Simpson's defence attorney during his 1995 murder trial.

Simpson was controversially acquitted of killing his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend

Ron Goldman

.

WATCH: Anthony Mackie: 'Civil War' is More of a Family Dispute