The movie was written by Gregory Allen Howard, Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Eric Roth and Michael Mann. It was directed by Mann.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Will Smith) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jon Voight).
The original script by Howard and Rivele was too long and unwieldy, and was significantly modified by Roth and Mann. Howard was originally commissioned to write an Ali script by producer Jon Peters in 1994, but it was never produced.