Many Premier League footballers like to have a few sidelines, whether it be owning racehorses, buying a couple of restaurants or setting up a football academy. However, very few have plunged some cash into producing a ganglands movie, especially one featuring the rapper 50 Cent!

That’s exactly what Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand have done, according to Yahoo, who claim that the two footballers are among the private investors who are funding the movie.

The Premiership footballers (and now budding movie moguls) will be executive producers on London gangland movie Dead Man Running.

50 Cent will play a vicious loan shark in the film, which also stars Layer Cake’s Tamer Hassan, Brenda Blethyn and Danny Dyer. The movie will focus on an the age old story of an ex-convict trying to go straight. Problems arise when Jackson’s loan shark character tells him he has to raise £100,000 or he will become a “dead man running”.

Hmmm, not the most original of plotlines then! Nevertheless, perhaps there will come a day when Messrs Ferdinand and Cole are more renowned for their movie involvement than the fact that they ever played for Manchester United or Chelsea. Until that day arrives, we won’t hold our breath!

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